Canada's US Travel Boycott Is Backfiring in the Most Unexpected Way at US Border

10 points by wahnfrieden 2 months ago on hackernews | 17 comments

taylodl | 2 months ago

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.

wormpilled | 2 months ago

I just wanted to virtue signal... now there are consequences, oh dear.

gcheong | 2 months ago

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?

foogazi | 2 months ago

For Canadians it’s even worse

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

Daishiman | 2 months ago

This article smells of AI slop

litheon | 2 months ago

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.

toomuchtodo | 2 months ago

CaliforniaKarl | 2 months ago

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.

inerte | 2 months ago

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)

jasoneckert | 2 months ago

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!

throwinggggggg | 2 months ago

I feel like Mexico is a more cohesive (and united) collection of states in America - perhaps it should be MUSAM (Make United States ALL Mexican).

mcphage | 2 months ago

Will there be taco trucks on every corner? We had been promised that if Hillary won, and I am still disappointed we missed out.

antonvs | 2 months ago

> but you will find MAGBA (Make America Great Britain Again) merch, because we haven't lost our sense of humour!

See, this is the problem. Canada still has a king, unlike the US which foolishly rebelled against a predecessor of that same king! FAFO, as they say.

red-iron-pine | 2 months ago

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.

dietr1ch | 2 months ago

How is this backfiring? I don't feel it's the CBP retaliating, but just staying busy as Canadian tourism plummets

seanw444 | 2 months ago

If western Canada joins the States, interstate travel would be easy ;)

impure | 2 months ago

You keep on using that word 'backfire'. I do not think it means what you think it means. Also:

> The other is linked to the Trump Administration's decision requiring CBP officers to be more rigid in their controls.

I think this is a more likely explanation.