Land Crossings and Contacts
Submit contacts and ratings to me via
email: duckie@natda.org.
Search for the crossing you're interested in, I'm just going to be
appending comments to the end from now on.
Crossing from BRITISH COLUMBIA
SUMAS
Rating: 10/10
Contact:
Christopher A. DeMello, Free Trade Examiner
Immigration and Naturalization Service Inspections
PO Box 99
109 Cherry St.
Sumas, WA 98295
Phone: 360-988-0801 Fax: 360-988-9104
(Submitted by Duckie)
Note:
Christopher DeMello will take applications for pre-approvals by MAIL
(include everything he'll need) two weeks in advance. He will notify you
when approved and have the TN/TDs available for you to be picked up at the
crossing...absolutely no waits, all preapproved. He seems very
TD-supportive, too :)
YVR Pre-Flight
Duckie Rating: 4/10 Linda Rating: 2/10
Contact:
"Powers"
(Submitted by Duckie)
Note:
Our experience with YVR Pre-Flight was with a guy named
"Powers" (last
name).. The only reason I remember his last name is because he was,
literally, on a power trip. He suggested that since we had been in the
U.S. for two years, we are not very "temporary"...And he also suggested
that our statuses would not be renewed a fourth time, if he was the one
evaluating our papers. He made us fill out hand-written I-94s (new ones)
because he didn't like the ones we were mailed when we extended. Also,
Powers was the guy I dealt with who didn't let me visit Bruce for more
than a month on my summer vacation from school in 1996.
(Submitted by Linda)
Note:
My least favourite border crossing would be Vancouver
airport: a 2 out of
10. They would get less, but they did actually break their own "rule" and
process the application after 15 minutes of waiting and allow us to make
our connecting flight... note that the TN warrants a "multiple entry"
stamp
and the Equal Life Partner (that would be me) does not get the same
stamp... right after they remove my children's I-94s from my passport. The
officer's name was Powers.
Crossing from MANITOBA
Pembina, North Dakota
Rating: Linda's Favourite Crossing; 9.5/10
Notes: (Linda)
Out of a possible 10, I'd give the Pembina staff
a 9.5!
They'd get a ten
but the officer in the booth always forgets to ask if we're bringing
anything into the country.
Crossing from ONT
Toronto Preflight
Rating: 8/10
Notes: (Linda) The Toronto airport would get an 8 out of 10 -
Darrell did
get his initial
one there in August 1995 and I had a little chat with them as I came
through in March of this year.
Sault Ste. Marie, MI.
Rating: See notes
Notes: (Linda) The other border crossing we've dealt with is Sault
Ste. Marie, MI. For
courtesy, they would get an 11 out of 10. (Even gave me a coffee in their
office behind the desk while we discussed things... who ever gets treated
like that?) For dispensing enough adequate information, a failing grade: 2
out of 10. The infamous quote: "No one expects you or your kids to lead an
abnormal existence. You can have cash jobs or just change your status to a
legal employment authorized status." Yeah, right.
More member comments:
-------------------SB--------------------
Detroit
Rating:
Quantitative: 1 out of 10
Qualitative: Don't even consider it without legal
counsel
The officer's name was Carter. He is now the
Infamous Carter, as a Canadian traveler has filed
charges against him, and an attempt has been made
to have him appear in court in Canada. I took on
the TN as a DIY project. That was the first time.
I now use an immigration attorney.
Detroit is staffed with gun-toting, under
educated, bitter thugs who appear to be the
participants in some sort of low-IQ affirmative
action experiment gone awry. Upon arrival at the
crossing in Detroit, I followed the signs for
those folks driving trucks. Since I was in a
20-foot U-Haul, I figured that the signs applied
to me. Upon arrival at the crossing, I asked what
to do. The INS officer took my passport for
safe-keeping and directed me inside to the office.
When I got to the desk, I was chided about coming
to the U.S. for the "signing bonus" by an officer
with a tone that was obviously meant to make me
feel uncomfortable and at the mercy of an
enforcement agent. I no longer felt that I was
being welcomed to the U.S. by the tenets of the
NAFTA policies. He asked to see my passport. I
informed him that another officer was in
possession of my passport. He asked my why I gave
my passport to the officer. It was at this point
that I figured that these people didn't really
have that much of a standard process, and seemed
to be making it up as they went along.
I was turned back to Windsor and told to come back
through the non-commercial crossing where I should
have been in the first place had I not followed
the signs that obviously direct people driving the
class of vehicle that I was in. Upon arrival at
the non commercial crossing I was told to go back
to Windsor as the NAFTA officer was not on duty
until the next morning.
I arrived at the crossing again the next day with
a fresh, positive outlook. How naive of me. It was
here that I met up with officer Carter. My letters
of reference were not appropriate for proof for a
TN. As I said, this was a do-it-yourself, except
that I didn't really understand what it was that I
was supposed to do. However, Carter insisted
repeatedly on telling me that I did not have the
appropriate experience to be given the TN. I
corrected his semantics by suggesting that I had
seven eight years of relevant experience, and what
I am missing is admissible proof of that
experience. I don't think Carter likes to be
corrected. I had replacement attestations faxed to
a print shop in Windsor from two former employers.
It was ten minutes before the end of Carter's
shift. My U.S. recruiter told me to head across
the bridge, and that she would call Carter and
tell him that I would be there in about fifteen
minutes. I told her not to bother, we'd pick it up
again tomorrow because I didn't think Carter was
the type of guy that would stick around for an
extra twenty of thirty minutes to process my
documents. She said that she would convince him,
so off I went racing across the bridge. Carter was
gone before I got there. The other officers at the
border informed me that only Carter does TN
processing, no one else. My recruiter told me that
Carter said that he needed to get home on time or
his wife would make him sleep in the basement. Any
objections to giving this guy a gun?
My third day at the border. I had the right
documentation, I was early, everything was in
order. Carter wasn't there, and he was the only
officer that could process the TN as I was told. I
waited for over an hour for him to show. The night
before, I was told that he would be in at 0800.
Serves me right for listening to the INS agents at
Detroit. When I finally got my turn to be
processed, Carter started my claim, and was
somehow distracted by some other work. Not that I
was surprised. I think he was also distracted by
the sounds of his own eardrums. Another dull-eyed
agent asked me (in a dialect of English that I
assumed to be more of a physical mutation than
anything endemic to Michigan) if "this" was my
letter. She was referring to a letter of reference
from a former employer that I was submitting a
copy of as an attestation. The letter being mine,
I said, "Yes." Before I could unlock my gaze from
what appeared to be a wick of drool that was about
to escape from her mouth, the red swash of an INS
stamp was permanently affixed to one of my
earliest reference letters. Upset, I started,
"What are you doing?" Innocently, she asked, "This
is your letter?" I said, "It's a reference letter
from a former employed." "Oh," she said seemingly
realizing the errant qualities of her actions, if
not the idiocy, and before I knew it, she
unsheathed a black felt marker and drew a big, fat
"X" over the INS stamp on my reference letter (it
was at this point that the intelligence-oriented
affirmative action hiring policy occurred to me).
Ultimately, I got My TN and was on my way, but not
without the accusational and guilt tripping tones
and glances from Carter. I latter learned about
charges being brought against Carter from an
article written in the Montreal Gazette. An
Ontario resident had accused him of coercing a
confession out of him, and then slapping a five
year ban from entering the U.S.
The moral of the story... The TN visa is made
possible by three fine countries looking to share
human resources and fostering solid business
relations. The U.S., however, has assigned the
administration of this task to one of the lowest
common denominators in the organization. No matter
what you think the tenets, and good intentions of
NAFTA are, remember, you'll be dealing with border
guards. Seek legal council, and go to a crossing
known for it's good temperament. Not everyone
wants TN-1's abounding in America, no matter how
qualified you are.
Laredo
Detroit
Rating:
Quantitative: 7 out of 10
Qualitative: Fairly nice people.
I have processed my TN at the Mexican Border
twice. It was infinitely easier than Detroit. The
people at this crossing seem to be more earnestly
involved in their work. The only problem that I
had at Laredo, was that my letters of attestation
of employment were faxes. The INS officers at
Laredo want to see originals. They originally
wanted to refuse my visa, but I told them that the
documentation that I was presenting was the same
documentation that I used to get my TN at the
Detroit crossing, and that my immigration attorney
assured me that the documentation was good.
I got my TN anyway, but I was told something to
the effect of, "You're not in the north anymore,
things are different here." From what I've heard,
this is one of the most important things to
understand about the INS. No matter where, or how
the laws are created, there seems to be room for a
degree of interpretation by the INS officers
themselves.
----------------end comments SB-----------------