Worst US/Canadian border crossing

p220sigman wrote:
In my experience, simply answer the questions asked as directly, respectfully, and succinctly as possible. Don't offer any commentary or smart comments and you will be fine.

Excellent advice! Listen carefully and answer the questions only as asked. Never volunteer info. otherwise you could find yourself being pulled aside for inspection. Another piece of advice is never take fresh fruit or vegetables into the US, even if from the US. Some meat is verboten too. Pork is a big no-no, even if frozen or in a can. It's your duty to declare things that may be restricted and YOU need to know in advance what they are by going to the Custom's websites. For ex., firewood (BC/WA at least) into the US can be sawn lumber but not split wood. If you do happen to get pulled over and didn't declare something, you could be in trouble and they could even decide to tear your vehicle or RV apart. They will even take away Nexus cards for good for small infractions.

Some rules don't make sense. If you have Nexus, you can't take your spouse's clothes if he/she isn't with you. My defense would be that I'm simply a cross-dresser. :) If DW comes to the CG later in the day, she takes her clothes with her. You're not allowed to go to the US to help a friend or relative work on something for free that they own there because you'll be deemed to be taking work away from an American citizen.

I mistakenly once volunteered that we had a small baggie of dog food. Very bad idea. We got put under the bright lights for a couple of hours like we were criminals. Our dog was barking the whole time out in their kennel. We were so flustered, we forgot to ask for our Nexus cards back. Got to the CG and couldn't find them. Phoned the customs office and they couldn't find them. Had to drive all the way back and they found them at the back of one of the officer's drawers. An innocent error? Dunno, but they weren't nice about it.

We've had Nexus cards for 5+ years and are supposed to have a high level of security pre-clearance compared to non-Nexus people. Even then, we get still pulled over a couple of times a year when with the TT, usually early in the season when they're not busy. They went through everything once and found a tiny bit of bark on a stick of kindling (which we had bought in the US). Got a stern warning. They seem to have a rotating flavor-of-the-month run on something like dog food, firewood, vaccination papers for pets, receipts for goods not declared, meat, fresh fruits & veggies, alcohol, etc. Have never been pulled over going back into Canada except for having to pay taxes on a purchase (over a certain amount).

If you want a sense of what the US & Canadian border agents are like and what they deal with, the Can. & US Border Security TV shows are interesting.