Was Canada's border patrol too harsh on me? (you decide)?

Question

Three weeks ago I had a one-week vacation from work. I took a flight to Minneapolis and then rented a car from the airport to drive into Canada for a one-week vacation.

I had my itinerary very well planned and created a binder with maps and hotel reservations and everything. I also had my USA passport and driver's license of course. I have never been charged with a crime in my life.

I got refused entry into Canada at the I-29 border crossing and had to find a motel in the US to stay the night.

Why? Because in Canada I had a female penpal I often talked to on yahoo email about my trip. When I told border patrol I was going to Canada by myself, I was being honest, except in one email we said we may have time to run into each other.

Because border customs inspected my cell phone and found access to yahoo email THRU my own cell phone which I didn't even know I had before, they spotted an email directed at a girl in Winnipeg.

They said until we can contact her,

Answer 1

There is something about this that just is not sitting right, I have hundreds of border crossings under my belt, never once have they checked my cell phone and it is always there right where they can see it, as is my laptop. I find it hard to believe they would check your phone and then read your email on it, unless they had a valid reason to.



You had to have been flagged in the system for something, it can be anything from a minor charge, theft, fraud, DUI, assault, etc that will prompt them to check you completely over and then refuse you entry. You must have something on your either your drivers license/plate that is flagged.



I have never heard in all my years of them using email to verify a story, and I have friends and relatives who work for the border services as custom officials.



Thousands of people cross into Canada that are alone and it is not suspicious, you must have done something to make them think you were hiding something, if you had all your required documentation for crossing and you told them you were going for a week to ? then they would not have even blinked an eye. Did you tell that you had no destination in mind? to make them think you were not planning on returning to the US, it really just does not make sense what you say happened.



They do have the right to refuse anyone entry into Canada as Nikki stated. It is a privilege to cross the border, both the US and Canada's......it is not a right. I guess for some reason you were flagged, and as well I have never heard of a Canadian citizen being contacted to give permission unless you are a minor child and it is the person you are going to stay with.



I am pretty sure there is a lot more to this story!

Answer 2

First - you are driving a rental car across the border, which I think is a flag because they can't verify you against your license plate - so they have to check your ID thoroughly.



Second - if you have a fairly common name maybe your name is flagged for some reason (not that it's you - but a name close to yours)



Third - Because of the first two reasons, they saw this email to a girl - maybe they thought you were some creepy internet stalker and the girl was underage. It happens all the time - this is why the rental car was bad. Creepy guy rents a car to go meet some 12 year old and abduct her or rape her. I'm NOT saying this was your plan and obviously the girl wasn't underage, but border patrol had no way of knowing this.



I would definitely have a lawyer or your government representative check your status with border patrol now, you may always have problems because of this one incident.

Answer 3

Canada does not have the army do that. The Canada Border Services and the RCMP are responsible for border security on Canada's side. The US Border Patrol and Homeland Security handle things on the American side. Just because the border is considered the "longest undefended border in the world", don't mistake that to mean that no one is actually watching and monitoring it. It just means that we do not have a fence and guys with guns the entire length of the 49th parallel.

Answer 4

Well, first, they do not need a reason to deny you entry, just as US customs do not need a reason. Just as they need no reason to pull you into secondary inspection, rip apart your luggage, vehicle, remove door paneling, trunk lining and not put it back. If they decide its necessary, they could have subjected you to a full body cavity search. I am sure I will never hear an American complain about beefed up border control when allowing people into the states since 9/11, but I hear all kinds of complaints from americans on here about Canadian Border Patrol.......odd. I, myself, have been refused entry into the States at the Rainbow Bridge Crossing in Niagara Falls, all because my jalopy of a car had some bullet hole stickers on the side. I even hold dual citizenship, and was still refused entry. C'est la vie. A chance you take when trying to enter another country.

Answer 5

I have never heard of border patrol asking a Canadian citizen permission for someone to enter the country. That is just stupid and must be against regulations. I'd report that (I hope you got a name).



They CAN deny entry to anyone they want. there is no rule that says ANYONE has a right to cross the border but them asking a citixen for permission is wrong of them.

Answer 6

What? That makes no sense. Your name must have come up on their computer. Have you ever had a restraining order? Or a charge against a minor? My guess is yes. No ones cell phone gets inspected unless they appear on the list. I don't think you are telling us the whole story.



If you swear you have no criminal record then you might want to get a lawyer and find out what they have on you....or if maybe its mistaken identity.



No one gets denied entry for the reason you posted above.

Answer 7

That is harsh man!



Some of my American friends from Montana got denied entry once, becuase they didn't have enough moeny in their bank accounts to last them for three months or longer.... they just wanted to come up to Lethbridge, Alberta to drink with me (we were all 18 at the time)....



I thought that was obscenely ridiculous, but now after your story..... man.... I thought US border patrol was bad, perhaps I should look closer to home.

Answer 8

I have never crossed by land into Canada but have entered through airports several times. Since 2001 it seems they scrutinize everyone more and more. I was in Seattle once and missed an international flight due to a delay on my flight into Seattle. I went online and found a cheap last-minute same-day round-trip (wow, lots of hyphens) to Vancouver BC, called a friend of mine who I met on a cruise, and on a whim decided to fly to Vancouver to have dinner with him. When I got to Canadian immigration/customs I was asked a bunch of questions and they simply would not believe that someone would fly to Vancouver for just one evening. After I showed them my confirmation for my onward flight from Seattle to Narita, gave them the contact information for my friend, consented to a practical strip-search where even the contents of my wallet were checked for drug residue, I was begrudgingly allowed entry. This process took so much time, however, that it was all but impossible to have a nice relaxed dinner so I simply exited Canadian customs and re-entered US customs for the flight back to Seattle. At least I was able to purchase some items at duty-free - at the time the exchange rate was more favorable than now.



You can complain all you want but I think the hassles you and I both experienced are pretty much "standard procedure" these days. As for me I have decided never to go to Canada again becase of the way I was treated.