IMO, this article is written weirdly, so have the main quote:
During an interview with CTV News, Canadian immigration law specialist Warren Creates said:
“The adjudication at the border is a lot more thorough, a lot more detailed, and perhaps at times a lot more hostile. It’s (...) because there are fewer travelers. Which means these same officers have more time to spend on each examination, that is to say, each person presenting in front of them.”
Personally, I don't know if that's the case: If CBP are told to be more thorough, then I'd expect them to be more thorough, regardless of how that affects the number of vehicles processed per unit time.
I am not sure, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson%27s_law is real. CBP agents aren't machines, they will be thinking about rush, boredom, and even job protection as a group (fewer people to do the same job)
So, by "backfire" they mean the US has made it easier for Canadians to boycott travel to the US? Just goes to show how petty and short-sighted this administration is.
What’s the virtue signal in not wanting to travel to a country that might arbitrarily decide to illegally deport you to a different country other than your home country or detain you indefinitely?
While Venezuela and Colombia only get bombing threats, this US administration was actively advocating to take over the Canada and turn it into the 51st state
They talked about taking over Greenland and Panama and even sent out diplomatic missions to that effect
From my experience as a Canadian who has travelled to both the US and within Canada recently, I find that two of the bold statements made in this article are simply not true:
#1 "Many Reddit users in Canada have been claiming they can no longer afford domestic travel. This has created a paradoxical situation in which flying to Europe can be cheaper than traveling to a different Canadian province." Flights in Canada this year are a bit cheaper than I've seen them in a while. I actually scored a last-minute flight to Calgary from Toronto for $94 in August (return trip was double - also a last minute deal). Gas is cheaper as well (for road trips!).
#2 "Still, the more detailed border controls are only one of the ways Canadians are also experiencing the consequences of the travel boycott." I have yet to experience a delay at the border that is much longer than what I would have expected on average over the last 2 decades.
That said, my desire to travel to the US for pleasure has definitely nosedived this year given the political climate and statements made by the current US administration. And I'm not alone - most Canadians feel as if they are not welcome in the US from this messaging. In other words, you won't find MAGA merch in Canada... but you will find MAGBA (Make America Great Britain Again) merch, because we haven't lost our sense of humour!
Am in Canada, and this has been my experience as well.
Flights are cheap, and I have friends and fam near the border, so it's cheaper to fly to Abbotsford or GTA and then drive across / get picked up.
Everyone has Nexus, and the wait or scrutiny has not changed meaningfully in the last few months.
The US is turning into a police state and I'm terrified by how painfully lazy the average American is about this, and my desire to travel south is drying up rapidly for those reasons. But so far travel inside of Canada or across the border has been reasonably smooth.
Agreed. That was a lot of words in a strange order to say Canadians are experiencing more scrutiny when entering the US, and domestic travel is becoming more expensive due to increased demand.
But which united states in America?! Canada (nation in America, specifically North) has provinces, while Mexico (officially the "United Mexican States" - also in America, also states, also united) is definitely not being boycotted.
All this confusion could have been cleared up if the states (which are united, in America, but not the Mexican states that are united and in America) had enough pride to name their country something distinct and uniquely identifying.
hehe, I'm not sure how your comments will fly on HN but I quite like them. In 2017/18 I could often be found sporting a bright red trucker hat that said "Make America Mexico Again" - quite a few people around Toronto stopped me with approvals and laughs.
