So I was assigned by my company which does Identity Management (which I recently joined) to do some Identity Mapping for a Canadian company. So last Tuesday I flew into Buffalo, rented a car and attempted to cross the “Peace Bridge” to enter into Canada. At the Canadian border I was asked to pull over and visit the immigration booth inside. I presented an email from my company which contained all the details of my business in Canada. After after about 45 mins of a clueless Canadian border patrol officer sifting through some documents on NAFTA I was told that I needed “a letter of introduction” from the company which was expecting me. I told them that a colleague of mine was already here, and I was asked to assist him in finishing the project. My colleague even called their supervisor and tried to reason with him. They told me I had to go back across into the US and try again in the morning. This was around 12 midnight and of course I could not obtain the letter at that time.

So as I pull into the booth area and inform the US border patrol that I was asked by the Canadians to come back tomorrow with a letter. Next thing I know a second border patrolmen is standing by my passenger window and asks me to turn off my car and step out. So I do. He then proceeds to take my cell phone away from me. So I have no cell phone or documents with me. They have all my papers and my phone. I am asked to come inside where someone asks me to explain what I’m doing at the border. They tell me to sit and wait while they “process me”. After a hour and a half I am asked to enter a separate area where I am questioned by an ICE agent. ICE is a new division of DHS (Department of Homeland Security). The ICE agent was very respectful. He asked me many personal questions about my marital status, education, employment, former employment etc. I used to be employed by a religious non-profit, an Islamic Religious non-profit. So he asks me about what they do. Then he continues to ask if I was ever approached by extremists in the community. Or if I have any ties to any radicals, extremists or terrorists. I tell him about the mainstream approach we take and that we are the opposite of any of those things. He asks me if I ever make any donations overseas. So I answer all his questions. Then he finally says I can go. So I was at the Canadian border for 1 hour and then at the US border for 2 hours. By the time I found an available hotel in Buffalo and found something to eat for my fast the next day it was 3 AM.

The next morning by about 11 AM I am at the Canadian border again with the letter. I am asked to come in and talk to immigration again. This time they tell me that the letter is not enough. I am asked to come inside and sit with an agent who will look deeper into it. This border patrol agent determines that my company’s sub-contracted projects falls under the After Sales Service portion of NAFTA and he would need the contract between the Canadian company and the software vendor and the contract between my company and the software vendor. So I contact my project manager and ceo and get the documents he needs. In the meantime the border agent “processes me” He takes my picture and prints out an official Canadian document called a Visitors Record for me. This document specifies what range of dates I am allowed to remain in Canada in. And what I am prohibited from doing i.e. taking any educational or professional courses, gaining employment from a Canadian company etc. This agent was very thorough. He explained to me that the agent who was dealing with me the night before was new and inexperienced. He also explained that many agents don’t bother to go through the entire process. He broke down some things about NAFTA to me. He told me because of NAFTA I can come into Canada without having to get a work permit. He told me regularly they would do a market analysis to ensure that there aren’t Canadian companies which can perform the same services we are performing. In the case that there was a competing Canadian company they would refer them to the company inviting us and ask them to go with them instead. This agent explained that their job entails enforcing legislation. He also said its his job to understand the intent behind the legislation. He said his prerogative is to preserve Canadian jobs. At this point I realized the importance of something like NAFTA (despite its drawbacks). I also realized that the good old days are over where you could just cross the border with just your license. So after 2 hours I was allowed to enter. I have to note that I was allowed to keep my car keys, cell phone, documents and wallet for the entire duration and was treated very professionally (sadly, unlike in my own country on the other side). When they wanted to inspect my vehicle they borrowed the keys from me and gave it back afterwards. I also realized that on the Canadian side they treat their work as immigration work, while on the US Side they are focused on national security more than anything else.

On Friday evening I headed back to Buffalo with a flight to catch at 8 PM. I got the booth around 5:30 PM. The border agent asks me a few questions such as what my citizenship is, which is stupid because I had already given him my Blue American passport. He then asks when I went to Canada, I fumbled and said Tuesday, and said no wait Wednesday morning. The next thing I know there’s a border agent at my passenger window asking me to turn off my car and slowly put my hands on the wheel. Then he tells me to slowly remove my seat belt. Then I’m told to walk to the back of the car. And they take my cell phone again! at the back of the car I find 7 agents waiting for me! They ask me if I have anything sharp or pointy in pocket. Then 2 of them escort me to the same building where I was asked to wait on Tuesday night. So I tell them, listen I already went through this on Tuesday night and I already met an ICE agent. As we approach the building I see 3 visibly Muslim men sitting in the waiting area. So they take me to the other section of the building, almost as if they didn’t either want me to see or interact with those individuals. After a half an hour they bring me into that main office. I spot an officer I saw on Tuesday night and I complain to him about having to go through the motions again. He says since I was here before it should be faster than the last time. I ask him: “Don’t you guys have a database? I was just here”. So he says.. “It must be your last name?, Where were you born?”. I was like America! in Queens, New York City! So he says “oh…. it must be your last name or your name matches with someone who is bad.” There are posters on the wall outlining regulations on hunting, carrying firearms across the border and guidelines for “being processed”. The poster states that if you are held for over 2 hours you can request the supervisor to contact a loved one to notify them of your delay. So they take my cell phone so I can’t call myself, am totally cut off from the world, and can’t reach a lawyer! The poster also states that scrutinizing someone due to their country of origin is not racial profiling. Right its not profiling its straight up racism!

While I am waiting this time, impatiently watching the clock wondering if I will make my flight… 9 Hee Haws come in with their big ‘ol Rifle cases. They are about to cross over into Canada to hunt and have to register their serial numbers and get some documents stamped to allow them to cross with those rifles. They are taken care of in 15 minutes. Then an old white woman is brought in because she is apparently emitting radiation. She had some medical device which must have set off some alarms. She is checked with a special device and has her car brought right to the entrance and she is taken care of within 10 minutes. Then two rednecks (literally) come in. These freaks just killed a bear and are bringing it back in the trunk of their car. They have to report the weight and type of the bear, to coincide with hunting regulations. While they are waiting for the officer.. they see two Muslim men being accompanied by 2 border officers from the window being brought in for “processing”. So one taps the other points at them and says… Terrorists! and he starts laughing. At this point I am totally pissed off. Despite these guys being 6 ‘4 tattooed bear killers. I jump out of my seat and yell “That’s not funny!”. They turn around all surprised as if they didn’t know I was even sitting there. Then I said “That’s racist!”. They kept laughing. And I said “That’s not funny, you’re racist”. I said to them: “This is the second time this week, I’ve been stopped to be questioned.. What do you want me to do? Take the skin pigment out of my skin??” And the more vocal of the two says “I don’t care what you do!”. Then a border agent approaches them and they start ignoring me. They were there for about 10 minutes.

I then notice the two border agents who I was complaining to earlier first totally go through my rental. Then they take it (Jeep Liberty) for a joy ride!! They bring it back and get out all smiling, and I am grilling them. When the guard comes in I tell him that if he lets me go now, I can still catch my flight. So 10 minutes after that I am allowed to leave. They stamp some paper which I have to give to a guard outside and am given my car keys, cell phone and documents back.

What an experience! I have to go back Monday!

So I am left with all of these questions: How can I get those 7 hours of my life back? Why isn’t there more clear documentation on the US Travel Site to Canada, and the Canadian Border Crossing website? Should I contact the ACLU? Why did it take so long to process me? How long is racial profiling usually supposed to take? Am I on some sort of list? I know when I fly they call in DHS for clearance. Which is so stupid because when I fly back they don’t call in but only when I am first leaving. A few years ago I traveled to Pakistan for my sisters wedding and have that Visa on my passport, so maybe that has something to do with it? My beard was a bit thicker in my passport picture as well, oops and I was wearing a kufi (religious cap) in the picture!. So.. why am I being treated as a second class citizen again? Is it because I am active in my community? Where is our money going if our border patrol stations are totally low-tech and our database systems are primitive. Why do they have to do paperwork on actual paper instead of on computers? Why is so much discretion given to agents? why isn’t there a standard process that everyone has to go through? Why isn’t there random checking, like there is at airports? Are any oversight studies being done to see if profiling is really being practiced. What are the statistics behind who is pulled over? What have other peoples experiences have been? Should I have asked those rednecks how they would feel If I called them redneck KKK crackers so they can know what racism feels like? And is redneck a racial epithet?

Filed under: Ranting and Raving