Screw US Customs

[alphatarget1]

Wow. I cannot believe how many of you are defending racist US customs agents.

Profiling is one thing, being treated like a terrorist simply because one looks middle eastern is not right. A lot of people in authority feels like they can abuse it, and I think that's

With that said, I never had any problems with border control. I guess they don't really target Asians.

 

[Feneant2]

Why complain on a forum where it will have no effect, file a complaint with the human rights association or wherever you can raise a stink that will go somewhere. Taking your frustration out in a place like this won't change anything for anyone. As for the treatment you received, it might be racial profiling, but what can you do? That is the way of life now and it will probably never change because of the fanatics who made it this way.

 

[Papagayo]

Originally posted by: alphatarget1
Wow. I cannot believe how many of you are defending racist US customs agents.

Profiling is one thing, being treated like a terrorist simply because one looks middle eastern is not right. A lot of people in authority feels like they can abuse it, and I think that's

With that said, I never had any problems with border control. I guess they don't really target Asians.

Don't get too comfortable.. Wait till N. Korea starts to do some crazy terrorist things.. I bet you that Asians will be treated the same way.

I don't blame US customs for racial profiling.. It has to be done to protect the American Citizens..

It seems that they can't win.. either they are too laxed or to tough. There are always going to be complaints about something.. That's the American way. Nobody is satisfied.

The Rules that are set might hurt the few, but protects millions..

People that are giving you hard time, don't blame the US customs in general, it could also be the individual.

You blaming the US customs, you are generalizing just like us generalizing Middle Eastern people in general..

 

[DurocShark]

Originally posted by: alphatarget1
Wow. I cannot believe how many of you are defending racist US customs agents.

I can't believe so many of you are retarded enough to think we should just wave people through. Racist or not, several flags were raised on that second trip across the border.

Was it blond California surfers that blew up the WTC? No. Is it a redhead Irishman threatening the US from the middle east? No. Even with all the crap from North Korea, they aren't sending Korean terrorists here.

The comment made when the OP first came over with his school was unfortunate, but understandable considering what had just happened. And you'll notice he still got through.

The second trip across the border was completely within the reasonable actions of a border agent. Here are the flags as I see them:

1. Middle eastern appearance
2. Inadequate documentation
3. Claiming caucasian descent (I don't care how enlightened you are, on a global scale cross culture marriages are amazingly rare)
4. The OPs anger and frustration

Any one of those items would have probably just caused a few minute delay for questions. But add them together and I'm surprised the OP got past the border at all.

Until everybody looks exactly the same, race WILL continue to be an identifying factor. I have friends so paranoid that they can't even use race to identify somebody in a crowd. My wife calls Mexicans Spanish because she's so afraid of offending someone. WTF? They speak spanish, but are from Mexico and as such are Mexicans. Or call 'em hispanic if you aren't sure which country they're from. You can call a black man a black man. It's ok. He's black. A middle eastern woman is still a middle eastern woman. If you have more information, call her Iranian or whatever is correct.

 

[alphatarget1]

Originally posted by: Papagayo

Originally posted by: alphatarget1
Wow. I cannot believe how many of you are defending racist US customs agents.

Profiling is one thing, being treated like a terrorist simply because one looks middle eastern is not right. A lot of people in authority feels like they can abuse it, and I think that's

With that said, I never had any problems with border control. I guess they don't really target Asians.

Don't get too comfortable.. Wait till N. Korea starts to do some crazy terrorist things.. I bet you that Asians will be treated the same way.

I don't blame US customs for racial profiling.. It has to be done to protect the American Citizens..

It seems that they can't win.. either they are too laxed or to tough. There are always going to be complaints about something.. That's the American way. Nobody is satisfied.

The Rules that are set might hurt the few, but protects millions..

People that are giving you hard time, don't blame the US customs in general, it could also be the individual.

You blaming the US customs, you are generalizing just like us generalizing Middle Eastern people in general..

How many North Koreans are actually allowed out of their country? Um, not that many.

There is a difference between racial profiling without obviously showing it and flat out being an a$$, the latter is not necessary.

 

[Feldenak]

Originally posted by: RyanSengara

Originally posted by: EKKC

Originally posted by: RyanSengara

Originally posted by: saymyname
*insert emo music*

****** you whitey/fobbie/blackie (insert stereotypical racist name) how'd you like to go to the middle east/asia/africa and be racially profiled?


4 pieces of ID should be enough to avoid interrogation.

um... americans are being racially profiled in the middle east and parts of asia africa. its called roadside bombing, kidnapping, and decapitation :roll:

I'm not gonna turn this into a P&N thread.

Too late.

 

[K1052]

You're just pissed that your younger brother is smarter than you and actually brought the proper documentation to cross.

Never let important documents like your passport or birth certificate out of your personal possession.

 

[gleong]

I'm visiting my caucasian side of my family. My passport is currently in a box being shipped back from college because I'm home for the summer, and my birth certificate is with it. As a result I bring my drivers license, federally issued Social Insurance Card, BC Health Card, and my photo student ID (Provincially Issued).. hoping that it will be okay.

My brother was coming with me and we have the same home address' and he brought his passport so I thought we would be okay.

After waiting for 40 minutes to cross we finally get up and some dumb FOB tells me that my 4 pieces of ID aren't good enough and he needs a birth certificate, at which point I tell him to look at my brothers passport, our home address and last names are the same and we look almost identical. We tell him our mom went down yesterday and give him her name (he brings her file up on the computer and sees a white woman)... at which point he looks at us funny because my mom is white.

He starts getting all angry at me, and starts asking some personal questions, where I'm from, where I go to school, what I'm studying, what my summer job is, what year of university I'm in. Total bullshit stuff, at which point I tell him to slow down because I'm getting a bit nervous, the guy is trying to light a fire under my ass.

When I arrive I hear about their terrible experience with US Customs.

The fat white lady wouldn't let my uncle in, because he, like me, couldn't get his passport and only had his DL, and SIN card. She treated him like ****** till he told her he was a pallative physician and to stop giving him ****** because is stressed out from dealing with people that have terminal cancer and that she should shut the ****** up and annoy someone else.

Canadian citizens are required to show some form of ID and proof of citizenship in order to enter this country. None of those items you or your uncle presented (drivers license, SIN, etc.) meet this criteria. For all the CBP officer knew, you two could have been permanent residents of Canada. So that 'dumb FOB' was probably doing you a favor when asking those stupid questions to try to determine whether you were a Canadian citizen or not, instead of turning you away for lack of proper documents, which imo is what he should have done.

 

[alphatarget1]

Originally posted by: DurocShark

I can't believe so many of you are retarded enough to think we should just wave people through. Racist or not, several flags were raised on that second trip across the border.

Where did I say that we should just "wave people through"? Nice try putting words in my mouth.

The comment made when the OP first came over with his school was unfortunate, but understandable considering what had just happened. And you'll notice he still got through.

Let me quote the OP:

I don't give a damn who the hell you are, it's my job to keep people like you out of my country'

Wow, what the agent said was "understandable"? That was a racist comment and totally unnecessary. Comments like this don't "protect our borders", nice try.

The second trip across the border was completely within the reasonable actions of a border agent. Here are the flags as I see them:

1. Middle eastern appearance
2. Inadequate documentation
3. Claiming caucasian descent (I don't care how enlightened you are, on a global scale cross culture marriages are amazingly rare)
4. The OPs anger and frustration

Any one of those items would have probably just caused a few minute delay for questions. But add them together and I'm surprised the OP got past the border at all.

I don't blame the border agents for questioning him the 2nd time, and it looks like he didn't have adequate documentation, which is his fault. With that said, looking at the OP funny because his mom is white shows how ignorant some people are, and totally unprofessional. He has the right to be pissed about that.

Until everybody looks exactly the same, race WILL continue to be an identifying factor. I have friends so paranoid that they can't even use race to identify somebody in a crowd. My wife calls Mexicans Spanish because she's so afraid of offending someone. WTF? They speak spanish, but are from Mexico and as such are Mexicans. Or call 'em hispanic if you aren't sure which country they're from. You can call a black man a black man. It's ok. He's black. A middle eastern woman is still a middle eastern woman. If you have more information, call her Iranian or whatever is correct.

Like I said, racial profiling is one thing (I'm OK with it with some reservation), and treating people like crap based on that is not cool.

 

[foghorn67]

Dumb Post by OP.

 

[Phoenix86]

Originally posted by: RyanSengara
Background Info: I'm a half-East Indian half english citizen of Canada, and my East Indian side of my family has probably been in North America for longer than most of you guys. I'm 5th generation

In a thick drawl ((later referred to as "hick")) the guy goes 'I don't give a damn who the hell you are, it's my job to keep people like you (by that he meant brown people) out of my country'. At which point I shut up because my teacher told me to just let it go (I have a very explosive temper).

After waiting for 40 minutes to cross we finally get up and some dumb FOB tells me that my 4 pieces of ID aren't good enough and he needs a birth certificate, at which point I tell him to look at my brothers passport, our home address and last names are the same and we look almost identical. We tell him our mom went down yesterday and give him her name (he brings her file up on the computer and sees a white woman)... at which point he looks at us funny because my mom is white.

The fat white lady wouldn't let my uncle in, because he, like me, couldn't get his passport and only had his DL, and SIN card. She treated him like ****** till he told her he was a pallative physician and to stop giving him ****** because is stressed out from dealing with people that have terminal cancer and that she should shut the ****** up and annoy someone else.

Perhaps you are a bit racist yourself. Your multi-cultural backround and being 5th generation does not prevent this.

edit: I'm not saying your were treated properly or excusing the border agent's actions, just that you may have a chip on your shoulder as well...

 

[mrSHEiK124]

Sounds like nothing compared to the bullsh!t IDF soldiers give me, US Customs officers are always super nice with our family.

 

[Mill]

1. Where was the profiling? You didn't have the proper documents to cross. You are lucky that they let you. Next time bring the proper paperwork.
2. With the arrogance you've shown on this forum, I"m not sure how much of this was YOUR fault and how much was "ignorance" by the ICE agent.
3. It seems like your expectations are to be treated differently/bad, so when you didn't sail through (because you didn't have proper documentation) you freaked out.

I'm an American Citizens and I've certainly been hassled re-entering my own country before. I've been searched and questioned.

 

[waggy]

There is no excuse for the racist comments that the guard told you. That is in-excusable and the guy should be fired.

as for the guy asking you a bunch of questions well duh. you did not have the correct documents needed to enter the US. To tell the truth it bothers me he allowed you in without them.

but what really amazes me is you come in and bitch about the guy being racist with a rant filled with racist remarks?

as for the racial profiling i have to agree with it. But the professionalism and racist comments should never happen.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: Mill
I'm an American Citizens and I've certainly been hassled re-entering my own country before. I've been searched and questioned.

heh after college me and some friends went to Canada for a vacation. man we had a blast drinking and smoking cigars.

well at the boarder they asked us what we did. As soon as one of the other guys mentiond cigars they pulled us out of the car and searched it. we had some cigars packed ina box and they fricken took it =( i didnt think they were sopposed to take personal use grr.

crossing into Mexico has always been easy though. never have had a problem with crossing over. sometimes its a little slow but have never been harrased.

 

[DurocShark]

Originally posted by: alphatarget1

Let me quote the OP:

I don't give a damn who the hell you are, it's my job to keep people like you out of my country'

Wow, what the agent said was "understandable"? That was a racist comment and totally unnecessary. Comments like this don't "protect our borders", nice try.

It was absolutely understandable. We had just had thousands of American Citizens killed by middle eastern terrorists. Yeah, I understand it completely when a border guard is racist towards a person who isn't a US Citizen but is of the same racial stock as the terrorists who did it. Do I think it was right? No. But I understand it.

This is a non-citizen we're talking about. That same comment to a US Citizen of middle eastern descent would NOT be understandable. But the country was a little paranoid for a while after 9/11 and it took some time for that to wash away.

You'll note that nothing like that happened on the second trip the OP described. Yes it's unusual for a middle eastern man to have a caucasian mother. And I agree with the guard's raised eyebrows. And as Waggy mentioned, I'm a little bothered that he got through at all with all the flags raised during the crossing. But that shows that our guards do have some common sense. The OP obviously answered all the grilling well enough to convince the guard he was crossing without nefarious purposes.

Which was, of course, the point of the personal questions.

 

[Zombie]

tough sh!t, keep the passport with you if you know they give you a hard time.

 

[DurocShark]

Oh, and explain to me please where it says the US Bill of Rights applies to non-citizens PRIOR to crossing into our country?

Citizens of another country do not get to enjoy the rights of our citizens. We apply them to any person who is legally visiting our country because we're cool like that. And we hope that when we're visiting other countries they will provide the same courtesy. But border crossings do not apply. During a crossing you are NOBODY until you're passed through. If you don't like it, turn around and go home.

When I pass through Mexican or Canadian customs I expect to be hassled. It's the job of the guards to PROTECT THEIR COUNTRIES. Anything that strikes them as odd is valid reason for pretty much whatever they want to do. From heated questioning to a full body cavity search. I've never had a BC search, thankfully, but I've had some pretty intense grilling even by US border guards when coming back in from Mexico. Sucks, but that's the way it is. And I appreciate the efforts made to protect my nation.

 

[TraumaRN]

Since I can drive a mile and see Canada across the Detroit River and since it only take 15 minutes to get to either the Detroit/Windsor Tunnel or Ambassador Bridge I feel the need to interject my opinion on the matter.

What the OP has posted happens ALL the time. I work with many fellow canadians in a downtown detroit hospital, many are not white and the only reason they arent harassed is they have what equates to a rapid pass because they work over here. However they'll all tell stories of what happened to their family members or friends being harassed at the border.

Heck even I was harassed a little while back. And I'm a tall pasty white guy(dam the irish heritage!) with sandy brown curly hair...hardly middle eastern at all and that border guard gave me and my then girlfriend such hell about just going to Windsor for dinner and dancing that it was ridiculous, never searched our car but haggled us for at least 30 minutes and we were both OVER 21, legal to drink in both countries and we both had drivers license and PASSPORTS. I was so steamed but it happens. And ironically one of my best friends is an Iraqi who came over after the first Gulf War, she's never had a problem crossing EVER.

 

[xanis]

I can fully understand why the OP is pissed. To me, it does in fact sound like racial profiling. I'm not saying that it's right, but you have to look at things from the U.S. and Canada's point of view... the attack happened in New York, which, IIRC, shares a border with Canada. Well I think that those attacks were a little too close for comfort for the Canadians and the'yre just trying to be protective of their country.

What's funny is that I'm sure that as a U.S. citizen, you would be outraged with the rest of our country if terrorists slipped through the border. Yes, if border patrol or INS goofed up and a terrorist slipped through the cracks in either Mexico or Canada, you would be royally pissed at border patrol for screwing up, correct? You can't have your cake and eat it too.

 

[saymyname]

This thread is still going?

Truth is that if you travel enough you'll have problems all over the place for all kinds of stupid things. I've been to Canada 3 times recently:

1. Canadians let me in with just my Drivers license. Got drilled and interviewed coming back from the Americans. Had to park and go into the building.
2. No problem getting into Canada. Probably one of the nicest border agents I've ever seen, in any country, coming back into the USA. Made sure I had my passport with me this time and the next.
3. Really rude and cold Canadian border agent who tried to stare me down for asking for a stamp in my passport. No problem getting into the USA.

The OP undoubtably brought the problems upon himself.

 

[altonb1]

Originally posted by: RyanSengara

Originally posted by: EKKC

Originally posted by: Flash1969

Originally posted by: EKKC
Customs check for contraband and illegal items. I think it was INS? (even though yeah they're all rolled into one huge nasty Dept of Homeland Security

Sorry for what happened, but its a sad fact that many of the people from your culture will have to face. Look at how the japanese were ridiculed back in World War II. You can't have security and your freedom and not be stereotyped / prejudiced against and have your cake too.

Sounds to me like the op understood the precautions, but didn't appreciate the lack of professionalism.

what did you expect, the president isn't very professional himself!
no seriously, if you understand the precautions, you know you will face these types of thinking and attitude. you can't expect ALL of them to nicely greet you, ask you for your ID, takes a while to check your paperwork, while the whites and blacks are parading past the checkpoint. you'd be just as pissed too, and they you'd complain they're patronizing you when they talk too nicely.

my point is, things like this will always happen. learn to accept it, instead of getting way too worked up in it. anger doesn't solve problems.

The problem is not once have I nicely been greeted, and not once have I not had problems.

Bring the PROPER paperwork and maybe you have a rant with some merit. Until then, though, you have no beef. YOU did not appear to have the proper documentation, ior at least that is what I got out of your post.

However, to be fair, maybe a driver's license, etc is all that is normally needed. i have never been outside the US, so i don't know fir certain what you should have with you.

 

[hpkeeper]

Hey... I don't mean to sound like a jerk...

but I'm glad that they're doing their job on the border...

if only they were as secure on our southern border as much as they are on our northern, my taxes might go down.



...btw.... it's not our fault that 'your' people are profiled... it's random.. it's just as bad inside our country. Why do you think
our jails are populated with african americans? No one seemed to have any sympathy for the Japanese-Americans during World
War II... we haven't thrown their pity party yet... and they were either Naturalized citizens or straight up american....

...so what makes you think you deserve one when you're not even of american citizenship?

Sorry you have a problem with our Customs system... but I feel more comfortable knowing since 9/11/01 there hasn't been an explosion of any building in our country or otherwise due to terrorism. So those pricks at the border? ...they deserve a raise in my opinion... they've done their job and done it well.

 

[Number1]

I am white male Caucasian. I had the same experience going through the border because I didn?t have my birth certificate with me. The custom agent gave me the dirty looks, the personal questions etc. They let me trough in the end but next time, I will have my birth certificate with me.

 

[Rumpltzer]

I'm half Irish and half Taiwanese. When I was a kid living all over the place, people thought I was Hawaiian or Samoan. Now that I'm in California, people tend to guess Mexican. 😀

I make two or three border crossings a year through LAX. It sucks. I mean, welcome back to America takes the form of some dillholes yelling in your face to get in this or that line and to get off the phone while standing in line. Then some idiot who hates his job slowly scans my documents and asks me how long I was gone and where I had been and whether I brought any food back. It's not a pleasant experience.

I have my documents together and complete, answer questions, say nothing else, and get through it as quickly as possible.

I think the OP is describing a typical experience with US customs. What about it?


BTW, customs officials were pricks even before 9/11.