I live in the uk but my parents live in the USA and I travel at least once a year but usually twice to see them – and have been for the past ten years.

I have to say that I am really glad to see this article and others being written, not a single trip goes by where I do not fear the customs officers. The first time I travelled accross the border after my parents moved, my passport still contained a green visa form that the airlines had not removed from my last trip. I had no idea what the form meant and was taken into an interrogation room and interrogated for an hour.

My last few trips have been surprisingly pleasant and even a little weird with one customs official, who is from the same town as I was visiting, taking ten minutes to rant about a girl who cheated on him!

Oh and as a side note I once flew from Amsterdam to Washington and was given one heck of a grilling on my way out. When I asked why it was so intense, the Dutch official replied “we are preparing you for the Americans, one mistake and they will interrogate you.”

That another country uses it’s resources to protect it’s people from a supposed ally in this way is ridiculous!

Thank you for the great post!

However, in the case of the Sheriff in Arizona and the State of Georgia, they insist that these “routine” procedures are appropriate and expected of them. Once I have some sense that this is being changed or addressed, perhaps I’ll change my mind.

I’ve crossed the border dozens and dozens of times since 1996, and while the border crossing were not pleasant in late 2001, the surliness of the border guards has been pretty consistent (in my experience) regardless of whether we dealing with US or Canadian customs. Perhaps it depends on the crossing? Or it’s just the luck of the draw.

Awful injustices and xenophobia happen in plenty of countries. I recently travelled through the Vancouver airport where a Polish immigrant was tasered and killed. A Moroccan immigrant was killed this winter in Montreal by a snowplow and her family has received nothing from the city except a bill for 13$ for a copy of the police report.

Honestly, this is just sad when our neighbors can’t come visit.

As for us, we are Canadians and we have noticed the lengthening border line-ups and increased security. It’s really unfortunate, I think, that we feel less welcome in the US. Our family still visits, and we actually signed up for the Nexus program because otherwise crossing the border with 2 small children is just not workable.

I hope that under Obama’s regime things will change.

I sincerely hopes this changes during his term, but I can’t blame anyone for not coming here until major reform happens.

@ Annette – That often worries me as well when I sign my name to things, but someone needs to speak up.

It’s such a sad feeling to live in a country that I love and watch things crumble right before my eyes. It worries me for my own safety, my children’s safety and the safety of others.

While I don’t agree with the way that a lot of things are handled and think that the Bush administration royally fouled things up, I think people are still afraid in some sense because as a previous poster mentioned, it’s going to take a long time to undo the damage that 9/11 did. Even though it happened almost 8 years ago it’s still very close to home for me, and I’m sure many others.

With all that said, as a US citizen I am truly sorry for anyone who has experienced any kind of maltreatment at the hands of our officials, whether they are a citizen or a visitor from another country it is simply not acceptable.

You raised a very interesting point in saying that “we obviously don’t want your money.” I have to wonder if anyone has thought about the impact that these strong arm actions have on our economy, as I’m sure you’re not the only one that feels this way.

With your permission, I would like to post this article on the Obama website to give him and his administration some insight into how other countries are reacting to the way things are being handled.