The US police state, the "best" in the world

[DissidentVoice]

225. Border crossings

I live within walking distance of the Canadian border. I used to go over quite a lot; to see a good friend, go shopping (you can get books there - especially political ones - that are hard to find here) or just for the hell of it.

Since the UnPatriot Act finalized the transition to a police state, I go over much less.

I have rarely had a problem with Canadian border officers. 98% of them I've encountered are polite, professional and want to speed you on your way.

It's coming BACK that I almost always run into problems. Since 9/11 US CBP has hired a lot of wannabe hard-asses who probably couldn't get past the intake interview for a local police department. They treat you like you've committed a crime by just leaving the USA for a few hours and do the full KGB routine on you (I haven't run into that so much from the older, more experienced officers), knowing that the Fourth Amendment does not apply to you (contrast on the Canadian side, where you are protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights And Freedoms the instant you enter Canadian territory) and that they have GOT you until such time as they decide to let you go.

The only silver lining is that they cannot prohibit a United States citizen from re-entering the country...but they can sure as hell delay them!

A couple of years ago I got pulled in for a "random screening" and was there for almost three hours. During that time, where the border station had people packed in like cattle and a CBP officer was being extremely rude to a French-Canadian family from Quebec who didn't speak fluent English, my passport was confiscated, I was asked the same damn questions over and over and the CBP officer interrogating me was typing data about me into a computer, the screen of which I could not see.

When it was finally all over, another CBP officer came out of an office with my passport and said "does this belong to you?" I said "yes, thank you." He just said "you're free to go" and I left.

I have no criminal record, and have never been arrested. I held a Top Secret security clearance in the Air Force. There was no reason for me to be treated as such.

I considered calling my Representative, but she is a solidly far-right GOP Tea Party friend of Michele Bachmann so that wouldn't have got me anywhere, except to probably make my life even worse the next time I crossed.

I've been crossing the border for over 25 years and it's only been since 9/11 that it's got this bad.

If the Tea Party gets in full control of the government, I wouldn't be surprised if we will need exit visas to leave the country under the pretext of "securing the borders!"