I think a lot of people don't realize that they have drastically reduced rights at or near border crossings. You and your car can be searched by customs at their discretion without warrant or probable cause.
The "in some other universe... I didn't get back in my vehicle when I was told to" quote is telling too. I think someone more familiar with how border crossings work would never refuse to physically comply with a demand from officials.
> The "in some other universe... I didn't get back in my vehicle when I was told to" quote is telling too.
I agree. I do not know this man - but from my frequent Canada <-> USA border crossings I do know that while border guard power trips are frequent (too often so), getting beat takes effort. The story is clearly not as clear-cut as a bunch of crooked border cops deciding randomly to pepper spray and beat some guy. His friends and family are free to contribute to his legal defence, but without knowing what really happened I am unwilling to contribute.
That being said, the amount of unprofessional power tripping at American borders is ludicrous - myself and other Canadians avoid cross-border travel for this very reason, and it's costing America business. Even my American coworkers get hassled on their way home from Canada, and nearly everyone agrees that Canadian guards are on the whole a hell of a lot more professional and polite.
Nothing tops the time I was at the airport in Vancouver, pre-clearing customs. A very large border guard with a pissed off sneer on his face was hassling everyone he dealt with, and verbally berated an elderly gentleman for moving too slowly as he shuffled his way up to the booth. That sort of bullshit cannot be tolerated, and gives America a bad name for no good reason.
I suspect this has to do with the fact that you are Canadian. I am American, I have always found crossing back into America to be much less of a hassle. The Canadians have been stone-cold S.O.B's whereas the Americans are just rude.
Ironically - I have precisely the opposite experience. As a Canadian on a TN-1 Visa, approximately 85-95% of the time (more often in the last few years) - I get fingerprinted and asked a single question "What are you doing" when I answer back "Going to work in Redwood City" - the interview is terminated and I'm waved on.
Coming back INTO Canada though, and I'm subjected to the third degree - asked why I'm coming back, where I'll be going, what I'll be doing, etc...
But, after having done this six times a year for 13+ years, it's become pretty routine so at least I know what to expect.
At grave risk of redundancy: I have had the opposite experience. Canadian customs have always been friendly to me, and US customs at the Canadian border have always been total dicks.
I used to work and live on opposite sides of the US-Canada border (for around 1.25 years -- I was too lazy to apply for the pre-screening to get to the front of the line... plus when it gets backed up on those bridges you still have to get through the lines of cars just to get to the pre-screened booth). So I have a lot of experience with Border Patrol (at least on the Rainbow Bridge -- I avoided the other ones since I figured they would be nicer at the one most tourists would use).
Canadian Border Patrol:
* Very professional
* Demeanor ranges from 'stone cold' to 'polite and pleasant' (in some cases 'warm' too)
* Once had an asshole of a Canadian Border Patrol guy that said my story was 'confusing' and that 'it takes a lot' to confuse him. (In a total, "I'm talking down at you because I'm a law enforcement officer that needs always project authority" sort of way)
* I once was in front of some people that got turned back from the Canadian border (one of them wasn't a US citizen and was trying to use a Driver's License as ID to cross the border) and at no point did I feel that the border people were acting like assholes to the couple trying to cross.
US Border Patrol:
* "military police with a chip on their shoulder"
* One time I had a border patrol guy get pissed at me because he accidentally set off the car alarm (he asked me to hand him my key fob, and he pressed the f-cking red button on it).
* One time I had a US Border Patrol officer try to crack a joke with me about a recent local suicide (it happened at the casino I worked at). It was in total bad taste... and I'm someone that finds humor in crap on 4chan /b/. I just kinda nodded to get through the border (and because the casino didn't want us talking about it at all either).
* One time I was almost pulled out of my car because they confused "I work at the casino" with "I won at the casino." The guy asked me how much money I had on me, and got pissed off when I told him, "I dunno, maybe $5 in change." (The odd thing about this was that he and his 'partner' were wandering around through the mess of cars backed up over the bridge going into Canada . They were US Border Patrol Officers, why are they patrolling the people going into Canada?)
Overall, I've only ever had my car searched 2 or 3 times (all by US Border Patrol as a US citizen). (One of those times I kinda agreed with the search even though they told me it was a 'random' search. I had gone across the border to deliver a present because it would be faster than shipping it. When asked how long my stay in Canada was I replied, "about 20 minutes." The reply I got was, "You've been randomly selected for a search. Pull around to the spot over there and take this slip with you."... At least they could be honest and say that I was suspicious...)
I've had really bad experiences crossing back in via car too. Really intrusive personal searches, and a horrible attitude. They really deserve the reputation they have. But, that said: they have that reputation, and so I think you'd have to be kind of crazy to give them any shit.
On the other hand, coming back to the States from Europe has always been a pleasant experience for me.
On the other side of the globe, car searches by customs without a warrant or a probable cause were a standard thing up until ~2000. Now not only don't you see any border control when travelling in Europe, you're not bothered at all by the authorities at the airports (unless you're from outside EU). It seems ironic, when you think about people running away from here, over the ocean, to get to freedom just a couple of decades before...
I had my bags searched on a train Europe, in the middle of the ride, not at a crossing. Just taken out and rifled through. Say what you will about the States, but that's unconstitutional here --- except at the border.
Obviously it depends where in Europe you are, but in the UK at least, the police need reasonable suspicion before they can search you (or certain other specific circumstances must obtain), and there are limits on what they are allowed to search for. They are not legally allowed to search you just because they feel like it.
There's a summary of police powers of search and seizure in the UK here:
You don't get harassed at borders but you have lost national sovereignty. So it's one freedom for another - and in the case of the EU many would argue that it is a net loss of freedom.
No, we have voluntarily pooled our national sovereignty by treaty in some areas, and enjoy an increase in individual freedoms as a direct result. This is quite different from what you describe.
You voluntarily gave up your national sovereignty, which is a voluntary loss of freedom.
There are other good things in life besides freedom. I'm not saying the EU is a bad idea. I'm saying that when the UK joined the EU it gave up a good number of freedoms it previously had - admittedly those particular freedoms were not considered valuable. Such as the freedom to control trade.
It doesn't really feel like it. For typical people nothing changed. The laws were changed a bit so that they're more unified and the market forces work a bit differently. But sovereignty itself? No. Every country still has authority over its own territory. It's not independent authority, but was it ever? (in practice, that is) The countries are still divided much more clearly than the states - in every way I can think of.
I have never understood the legal doctrine by which inalienable rights suddenly become quite, well, alienable at the border. If a right is truly universal, then it should hold at the border just as well as it does anywhere else. This is one of many places where I disagree with the US Supreme Court on principle, and where I suspect that they let politics cloud their expertise.
The "in some other universe... I didn't get back in my vehicle when I was told to" quote is telling too. I think someone more familiar with how border crossings work would never refuse to physically comply with a demand from officials.