[tomtud]

If you do a lot of travelling I am sure you have come across a few border patrol agents who either are having a bad day, grumpy, rude in nature or are on a power trip. Today I came across a rude agent. NB I went to school in the states and crossing the peace bridge, the guards were fantastic, small talk as I had a student visa and actually ran into the same guards a few times. With that being said, today's US guard in The Toronto airport (they have a US customs in terminal 3 to expedite the process) was plain rude to me. No good morning after I said it,,, fine but his date stamp was wrong when I went to hand in my form before submitting my luggage and I went back to him and he said WHAT!? Rudely. I responded the date stamp ...he changed it and I said thank you in a rude like tone. It surprises me that they aren't held accountable for this. Other public servants are held accountable and these border guards need to be as well.

America is known for customer service,,,,,the best in the world. Yet, the first people you encounter are the border guards who CAN put a damper on your vacation,trip or travels. Yes they are doing their jobs, but they can do it without being rude. I don't care about greetings just a little class. I can guarantee tourists visiting any country who have experienced a rude welcoming don't start their vacation off in the right foot and probably will spend less money. Hence, less tourist dollars in your economy, makes sense.

I remember coming back to Canada and after a long flight from Abu Dhabi, was sent to secondary and I was grumpy, moody and oissed that I went to secondary. The guard asks me what I do for a living and I said ..... And he gave me his own personal opinion of it.... I'm like ?!?! Thinking who are you to give your persoa lo opinion of what I do for a living. I wanted to say.... I want to speak to your supervisor right away!!!!! But I was not in the mood for a verbal battle and wanted to go home. NB they do a very important job and all I am saying is that they can still do their job without being rude. Lesson, just comply......not gonna win here.

Any horror stories or plain rude border agents any of you come across?

[tomtud]

U.S. border guards recorded abusing a Canadian shopper


Jerome Tuccille
Civil Liberties Examiner
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April 28, 2010
"Was that a threat?"

That's how U.S. border guards at the Lewiston Bridge border crossing responded to a Canadian shopper when, exasperated by the abusive treatment afforded to him and his wife, he asked, "what are you going to do? Shoot me?"

Moments later, the couple were in handcuffs, with American officials insisting that they'd been threatened and assaulted. Fortunately, the Canadian man -- identified only as "qtronman" on YouTube -- had recorded the incident, and he later uploaded the recording, so we know the border agents are lying.

The couple were on their way to a mall in Niagara Falls, in the United States, when they were ordered out of their car by a U.S. border guard -- apparently because they didn't care for the Canadians' impatient tone when they couldn't name the specific stores they'd be visiting.

Throughout the exchange leading to the arrest, the Canadian man comes across as exasperated but cooperative -- not out-of-line for a person dealing with other adults he considers to be acting in an abusive and irrational way. He didn't bow and scrape, though, which may have antagonized the border guards.

The officials, on the other hand, sound provocative, and even as if they're enjoying their use of authority.

Official: "We don't need any grounds."

Shopper: "Well, that's ridiculous."

Official: "That's the United States. I'm sorry. I don't know what to tell you."

Shopper: "You don't need any grounds for your actions?"

Official: "Absolutely not."

[Pacesetter20]

After waiting in a massive line to go through customs at JFK, I had finally reached the desk and was next in line to be seen. The customs agent proceeds to have a five minute conversation with the lady ahead of me completely unrelated to entry as he had already gone over her card and stamped her passport, etc. Needless to say I was not happy as I had a connection to catch and was a tad aggressive with setting my passport on the counter and the CBP Agent had the gall to ask "why are you in a hurry?" This was the final straw to getting in the Global Entry program.

[Yeti]

I think that they may just be unhappy. It's basically factory work but of a mental variety. Instead of performing the same physical action ad nauseum, you rewire your brain with each new entrant.

if you don't rewire your brain, you run the risk of letting in someone who should not be let in.

Rewiring your brain every 45 seconds. Over and over, eight hours a day, full-time, for as long as you can take it.

If they don't pay attention they'll get shit from their supervisors. They will not get promoted. I imagine that they feel drained after doing that all day.

In my experience, Canadian border agents are the worst, just a bunch of dickheads. Americans have treated me alright, but I'm an American so... Might be different if I had an accent.

[Cheetah]

Think of it as shit tests.

If the customs officer comments on your job just reply in a nice way 'I replied because I thought you needed to know, I really didn't expect any comment on it'. If your frame is tight say it in a normal way, otherwise say it in a semi sad way so you don't question the officer's authority if you can't hold frame.

When the officer had a five minute conversation and asked why you are in such a rush you could have replied 'My flight was delayed and I actually am in a little hurry'.


Sometimes not reciprocating a 'hi' isn't rude (when the officer meets lots of people in even as little time as a minute) while sometimes it is. You can usually gauge if it's rude or not by looking at the body language. If you find them to be rude don't look at them when you don't speak with them, don't say thank you if they don't say 'here you are' or something. Just be correct. It's when you continue to be nice and polite to someone who doesn't reciprocate when it gets to you. I still really agree that they shouldn't be rude anyway, while abuse of power is obviously much worse though.

This is also slightly cultural. It has happened that people from the US can be very polite in their words but you can really see that they don't mean it. I find it better in France where they are polite and really nice when they mean it and feel like it, otherwise they are mostly correct but not impolite. In France if you don't like something just say it and the other person might reply back to you, and when walking away you got that off your chest and the both of you are happy and are happy to say 'au revoir' in a nice way to each other. At least that's my experience.

[Atlantic]

My last trip to the states the guy was asking really asinine questions. Just enjoying being a dick.
When he came to checking what my baggage was he asked if it was golf clubs.
I said no it was a snowboard and then he held up his hand in a high five position. I presumed he liked snowboarding or something so I reached over the desk and went to high five him. He kinda freaked out and told me he meant put my hand on the fingerprint scanner. Haha. He eventually started laughing but his first instinct was pretty close to full on freak out. I tbought I was going to get arrested for sure.

[Cheetah]

^^ Are you sure that the asinine questions weren't just to keep a short conversation with you to determine if you are a guy that they should look more closely into?

[Moma]

I crossed the border in Buffalo to pick up my cousin and the US border pulled me over to search my car. It took 30 mins and they wouldn't tell me why. They had me standing in some area and they wouldn't let me go to the toilet (I needed to pee). I know that they are normally rude at certain borders so I took their rudeness into consideration.

They let me go afterwards (of course I had nothing on me) and they didn't even tell me why. They seemed a bit disappointed when they let me go.

[Laner]

I was taking a foreign girl to Vegas for the weekend and she needed ESTA paper updated. The customs officer sent us over to the office (this was in the airport) to get the paper (he cleared us into the USA though).

We get in the office and hand over the paper to get the new one. The border officer looks at our boarding cards and tells us to wait. So we wait. And wait.

The clock is now ticking for us to get to our plane on time, and we were on the last flight of the night to Vegas. In this time I watch five agents devour a box of donuts and start a second cup of coffee.

They were purposely trying to have us miss our flight.

I have a rule when I deal with authority in the USA. Find the minority, preferably Latino. I found the guy and explained the situation to him and asked him for his help. His reaction was "oh, this shit again" and shook his head in a bit of embarrassment. He walked over, took our papers and within a minute was back and sent us on our way to catch our flight.

We sprinted through the airport and made the gate just as they were calling our names for the last time. We told the stewardess what happened and she said it happens a lot.

[elcidcampeador]

Guys a really great tip I can give is to get Global Entry - which is basically the ability to use a computer to scan your passport and not deal with any of the annoying agents.

After having gotten harassed by being young with 200 China stamps and a bunch of Peru and Colombia stamps as well I decided to get it.

Just requires a background check and a short interview. It's a bit intrusive and unnecessary but I love that I can avoid the agents.

Plus I never have to deal with lines and can get the Pre-check screening on every domestic flight

Info here: Global Entry

[Chewbacon]

Since when did we (America) acquire the reputation for having the best customer service in the world?

Last time I checked, most American customer service jobs were held by single mother welfare queens (DMV, greyhound, megabus, fast food). That's not good customer service man. Alternatively, most of our service jobs are outsourced to India, and you're basically forced to re-explain your problem over the phone.

You want good service? Go to a restaurant in taiwan. Fly a hong kong, singapore, or taiwan airline. That's service.

[Rang off the Pipe]

The worst I've had it was my first time heading into Canada. The folks over at Thousand Islands decided to have everyone in the vehicle get out and wait at the station for 25 minutes or so as they checked the passports of me and three other guys I was with. There's the typical coldness from customs agents, but I expect that by now.

[Pacesetter20]

(07-26-2014 05:36 PM)Cheetah Wrote:  

Think of it as shit tests.

If the customs officer comments on your job just reply in a nice way 'I replied because I thought you needed to know, I really didn't expect any comment on it'. If your frame is tight say it in a normal way, otherwise say it in a semi sad way so you don't question the officer's authority if you can't hold frame.

When the officer had a five minute conversation and asked why you are in such a rush you could have replied 'My flight was delayed and I actually am in a little hurry'.

This is straight up silly. It is an airport. Almost everyone one is a hurry.

[Cheetah]

(07-27-2014 12:58 AM)Pacesetter20 Wrote:  

(07-26-2014 05:36 PM)Cheetah Wrote:  

Think of it as shit tests.

If the customs officer comments on your job just reply in a nice way 'I replied because I thought you needed to know, I really didn't expect any comment on it'. If your frame is tight say it in a normal way, otherwise say it in a semi sad way so you don't question the officer's authority if you can't hold frame.

When the officer had a five minute conversation and asked why you are in such a rush you could have replied 'My flight was delayed and I actually am in a little hurry'.

This is straight up silly. It is an airport. Almost everyone one is a hurry.

Actually no, most people aren't in a hurry. Most people end up at the departure gate well before they are closing without having to run. Just because you have a flight to catch doesn't mean that you are in a hurry.

When having connecting flights they try to schedule it so you normally don't need to be in a hurry. If the transit time is short you might not want to go shopping but you shouldn't be in a hurry. As in your case you were delayed and you might really have been in a hurry. I don't think that it would have been a bad thing to in a nice way answer that question by saying that you actually are in a little hurry. Otherwise, he probably thought that you were just annoyed that you lost 5 minutes worth of airport shopping. Don't shoot the messenger, I'm just trying to decipher what was going on in his head.

[iknowexactly]

(07-26-2014 07:03 PM)Laner Wrote:  

I was taking a foreign girl to Vegas for the weekend and she needed ESTA paper updated. The customs officer sent us over to the office (this was in the airport) to get the paper (he cleared us into the USA though).

We get in the office and hand over the paper to get the new one. The border officer looks at our boarding cards and tells us to wait. So we wait. And wait.

The clock is now ticking for us to get to our plane on time, and we were on the last flight of the night to Vegas. In this time I watch five agents devour a box of donuts and start a second cup of coffee.

They were purposely trying to have us miss our flight.

We sprinted through the airport and made the gate just as they were calling our names for the last time. We told the stewardess what happened and she said it happens a lot.

great story, but I'm not sure why they were fucking with you..'cause you had a cute foreign girl and they are jealous?

Now I'm curious.. was she smoking hot lolz?

[Kdog]

One time I was returning to Canada from working in the USA. I had 2 checked bags and had been back and fourth a few times as I work for a pipeline testing company and the schedule can be hectic. He was grilling me about the bags, why I had two and asking several times "are you sure everything in both bags belong to you?" After answering a stern YES the third time he let me through. It's not like I had anything the only thing I had was five 40oz bottles as it was just before xmas. It was the last flight of the night in arrivals and the guy just had such s shit attitude.
Not to derail this to a race thread either but the worst part was he was a middle Eastern with an accent grilling me.
Talking to immigration officials is irritating enough and I don't much like having to answer to someone who wasn't even fucking born here to get back into my native country.

[Yeti]

For what it's worth, the airport officers probably have a tough job.

[Kdog]

No that rule doesn't exist as I've also come across a Romanian woman with such a strong accent I could not understand 80% of her questions, seriously.

I also don't have anything against immigrants as I'm first generation born Canadian (family from England). I just really think I had resentment as the guy was an absolute asshole.

[William Windsor]

The border agents at the Minsk airport are sweet, all female staff. Dictatorships sometimes do things better. ))

[Yeti]

The nicest border guards I've come across are in the DR. No bullshit or malignity - welcome to our country. Bang as many of our women as you can.

[MidWest]

I was racially profiled at Miami International Airport in 2011.


I was coming back from Buenos Aires, Argentina. As I got off the plane with a group of college students (we went to Argentina to "study") an officer pulled me aside and told me to show him my passport. As I was getting my passport from my bag I told him "dude, these people are passing behind us, why aren't you asking everybody?" I guess I pissed him off because he responded very angrily with "Im just one officer, do you think I can ask EVERY SINGLE PERSON WALKING BY???" I didn't want to argue with the guy or cause a big scene especially with my classmates there as they confusedly were walking by asking me what was going on and why the officer had me in the corner when he shouted at them"KEEP WALKING!" so I just stood there respectfully.

He then started asking me questions about my background and "intentions"

Officer: "How long have you been in the country?"
Me: "um, I was born here"
Officer: "Where are you headed?"
Me: "Chicago"
Officer: "What do you do in Chicago"
Me: "School and work"
Officer: "What work?"
Officer "What school do you go to?"
Officer: "What were you doing in Argentina?"
Officer" "How long were you in Argentina?"

My professor had to come back and explain to the officer that we're are in a study group and that we were together and that he and nor the group was going to leave without me. The officer then let me go. If it wasn't for my professor, who knows what would have happened. He then asked me "How do you feel about me doing this to you?" I honestly replied with "Well I understand it is your job, but I feel like you racially profiled me for no reason only cause I wasn't as "white" as the passengers, that's how I feel" He then replied with "We have a tough job and a drug problem in this country and we have to take every precaution necessary especially with the threat of terrorism. Just because you're a citizen it doesn't mean were not going to check you, you should be proud as you are contributing in helping the U.S. be safe" What got me pissed about the whole situation was that 96% of people on the plane were Argentinian nationals with green cards on vacation in Miami. He stops me, the Hispanic U.S. citizen. It got me thinking all day about race relations in this country.

I then walked through another phase where they were making a big deal out of a wallet with a sewing pin I got in Argentina telling me that it could be used as a "weapon" and that they wanted to know where I was going. I stuck through the whole process and my professor then told me "Welcome back to the U.S. MidWest"


I received an uncomfortable welcome back home gift, a big dose of discrimination. It got me thinking a lot about my fellow Hispanic folks down in Arizona with the whole immigration bill. I found out the real feeling of being discriminated by your own countrymen and wouldn't wish that on anybody. Being racially profiled sucks.

[nomadicdude]

The funny thing is that you can basically go to 100 other countries on Earth and not one will even come CLOSE to having as rude and power hungry customs officials as the USA. Not one. It truly is amazing.

What I've learned is that most CBP people are just braindead meatheads. They are poorly trained and on a complete fucking power trip. Just answer their questions with the shortest reply possible and if they get out of line then call them out on it. The whole system though is fucked, as if CBP acting arrogant is going to help the nation's security. It is just a false mechanism to make us feel more secure when it doesn't do squat shit. I know for a fact that many foreigners, particularly Euros and Brazilians, will avoid the US because of bad experiences with CBP in the past so it is just hurting the US tourism sector and economy.

Fortunately, I feel like since Obama came into office CBP has become a bit more friendly and efficient though they still are out of control.

[Yeti]

Come to think of it, the past few times coming back to the U.S. from Latin America, border security has given me what could potentially have been a lot of shit. Why was I in Colombia? Vacation. Do you have friends there? Yes, and I made new friends. So what? They can't really do anything if you are a normal traveler with nothing to hide.

It helps if you view them not necessarily as malign or racist, but just a bit daft. Think about it. Someone smarter would not have picked a good guy like me (or you) to pick on. They're just misguided. Play their game and placate their poor judgment. They can't physically harm you (it's all on camera). It will probably be less stressful to play along for those few minutes without getting upset.

[Suits]

I've done over one-hundred border crossings in my life, so at some point the question because "what can I do and what skills can I learn to make my border crossings more efficient?"

Bitching about the treatment that you or I believe we deserve while entering a sovereign nation is definitely worse than university graduates bitching that they are entitled to a job good enough to make student loan payments.

Let's tell some stories about the times that we used good social skills to talking border guards into violating their own protocol and giving us special favours.

[saeta119]

(07-27-2014 10:25 PM)MidWest Wrote:  

I was racially profiled at Miami International Airport in 2011.


I was coming back from Buenos Aires, Argentina. As I got off the plane with a group of college students (we went to Argentina to "study") an officer pulled me aside and told me to show him my passport. As I was getting my passport from my bag I told him "dude, these people are passing behind us, why aren't you asking everybody?" I guess I pissed him off because he responded very angrily with "Im just one officer, do you think I can ask EVERY SINGLE PERSON WALKING BY???" I didn't want to argue with the guy or cause a big scene especially with my classmates there as they confusedly were walking by asking me what was going on and why the officer had me in the corner when he shouted at them"KEEP WALKING!" so I just stood there respectfully.

He then started asking me questions about my background and "intentions"

Officer: "How long have you been in the country?"
Me: "um, I was born here"
Officer: "Where are you headed?"
Me: "Chicago"
Officer: "What do you do in Chicago"
Me: "School and work"
Officer: "What work?"
Officer "What school do you go to?"
Officer: "What were you doing in Argentina?"
Officer" "How long were you in Argentina?"

My professor had to come back and explain to the officer that we're are in a study group and that we were together and that he and nor the group was going to leave without me. The officer then let me go. If it wasn't for my professor, who knows what would have happened. He then asked me "How do you feel about me doing this to you?" I honestly replied with "Well I understand it is your job, but I feel like you racially profiled me for no reason only cause I wasn't as "white" as the passengers, that's how I feel" He then replied with "We have a tough job and a drug problem in this country and we have to take every precaution necessary especially with the threat of terrorism. Just because you're a citizen it doesn't mean were not going to check you, you should be proud as you are contributing in helping the U.S. be safe" What got me pissed about the whole situation was that 96% of people on the plane were Argentinian nationals with green cards on vacation in Miami. He stops me, the Hispanic U.S. citizen. It got me thinking all day about race relations in this country.

I then walked through another phase where they were making a big deal out of a wallet with a sewing pin I got in Argentina telling me that it could be used as a "weapon" and that they wanted to know where I was going. I stuck through the whole process and my professor then told me "Welcome back to the U.S. MidWest"


I received an uncomfortable welcome back home gift, a big dose of discrimination. It got me thinking a lot about my fellow Hispanic folks down in Arizona with the whole immigration bill. I found out the real feeling of being discriminated by your own countrymen and wouldn't wish that on anybody. Being racially profiled sucks.

Yep, this is why after living in the states over 10 yrs I never ever want to go back there.

People could not give two shits that you're from another country and got interesting things to say.

Been living in EE for 4 yrs now and I get treated like a rockstar in comparison, hot girls staring at you, asking you in depth questions about your nationality or your country. I actually am afraid of speaking spanish here when I don't want people to know what I"m saying, since there's a LOT of people here who speak spanish and a lot more actively learning it, such a nice difference.