Nervous About Crossing the Border? You Should Be.

The town of Blaine, Washington, is within eyesight of the Peace Arch border crossing—one of the busiest ports of entry along the Canada-U.S. frontier. From his office there, Len Saunders has spent the past few months watching border traffic plummet by nearly half, panic set in among travellers, and U.S. Border Patrol agents exercising their authority to the limit—and beyond. Here, he talks about why Canadians are right to be nervous about heading south, how political overreach is reshaping immigration law and what travellers should do now.

You’ve worked in immigration law through seven presidential administrations since 2000. What’s different today?

I’ve never seen this level of enforcement. I’ve seen border slowdowns before, after 9/11 and during the pandemic, but nothing like what’s happening now under Trump 2.0. If someone doesn’t have quite the right paperwork, they used to say, “Come back tomorrow.” Now you run the serious risk of being detained or maybe even deported. Meanwhile, Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, has made outrageous comments about deporting whole immigrant families together, and how that’s at least better than deporting them separately. I don’t think he’s being ironic.

How are people responding?

Canadians are boycotting by not coming down here to buy gas or produce. Some days, I come back to the U.S. after meeting with clients in Canada and there’s not a single car on the road. Recently, our local duty-free store had four customers in a full day. They might shut down. It’s chilling. Some people are also just scared of being caught in one of the rare horror stories where something goes completely wrong. Under Biden, it was the opposite problem: too little enforcement. You had about 10 million migrants sneak in through the southern border. Now we’ve swung hard the other way. Trump has nothing to lose, he’s not running again, so there’s no incentive for moderation. I think we’ll be dealing with this for the next four years. 

What kinds of cases are you seeing now that you didn’t before?

A Salvadoran family of four were recently put in a holding cell for two weeks after being rejected from the Niagara Falls Canadian border crossing for name discrepancies and returned to the U.S. Between January and March, more than 200 people were detained at a windowless holding facility at the Port of Detroit after being turned around at the Canadian border. At least one of them was held there for almost two weeks.

We’re also seeing a lot of problems with student visas, more than 900 of which have been revoked this year so far. Back in the day, if a student had a minor run-in with the law, their visa might get revoked, but they could stay until graduation and apply again later. Now? They’re detained and deported.

I get calls all the time. "My kid got a scholarship to an American school. Should we be worried?" My answer now is: "Maybe. Tell your child to be very careful about what political organizations they join on campus. If that group is flagged, even unfairly, they could lose their visa." I haven’t had to say that in 25 years.

Are people really that scared?

I get dozens of calls a week. Canadians, Brits, you name it. People are afraid of being detained, having their phones searched, being sent back. Even the new 30-day registration requirement—which requires anyone over 14 who stays in the U.S. for longer than 30 days to register with the U.S. government—is causing panic. And yes, I tell them that if they’re worried, they should fly and not drive. Airports are safer. The worst they can do there is send you back to the terminal. They can’t detain you like they can at a land border.

You mentioned phone searches. How common is that?

They’ve been doing that for years, especially in cases of suspected criminal activity, like prostitution. But what’s new is the breadth. There was a Brown University professor with a U.S. visa who was deported to Lebanon because a customs agent found a photo of a Hezbollah leader on his phone. There are also concerns that political affiliations are being scrutinized. I’ve received calls from people who were afraid about being reprimanded at the border for anti-Trump social media posts they’ve made. I don’t think they’ve actually been targeting people who’ve spoken against the president. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if they started. That’s the scary part. Nothing would shock me anymore.

What happens if a border agent asks to see my phone?

If they ask for your passcode, you can say no, but they might just deny you entry. You won’t be arrested, but they’ll say you’re “uninspectable” and send you home. If you’re nervous, don’t bring your phone. .

So what should people do—stay home? Avoid the U.S. altogether?

I’m not saying don’t come. I’m saying be smart. Don’t assume the old rules apply. Don’t assume that because you’re a Canadian with a clean record, you’ll breeze through. Check your paperwork. Fly instead of drive if you’re nervous. And if something goes wrong, call someone like me. There’s still due process. But people need to know the risks. The pendulum has swung too far. And until it swings back, we all need to be a little more cautious.