Canadian & American Border Agents to Share Information

[Mike OReilly]

Canada and the USA have exchanged data crime convictions for a long time. It’s a long and silly irritant that DUI convictions, even those that are very old, are enough to bar entrance to either country.

But as I read it, the change is that the data will now be shared specifically to monitor immigration issues. I suppose it’s just one more step along the way, but I don’t take any of it lightly. We are losing any sense of privacy, and too many of us seem complicit in the shift.

It’s not “1984”, it’s more like “Brave New World.”

[john61ct]

Originally Posted by letsgetsailing3

That sounded odd, so I looked it up:


U.S. officials say it remains a minuscule percentage of overall travellers — 0.007 per cent, or roughly one per 13,000. The Department of Homeland Security says it's necessary to combat crimes like terrorism and child pornography.


So not really a huge concern to most cruisers or travelers.

Should be a huge concern for all citizens of nations that value the idea of personal freedom and rule of law, and know that our so-called democratic societies can easily become authoritarian dictatorships in a short period of time.

The idea of having "nothing to hide" disappears pretty quickly when we willingly give up privacy rights to both the private / corporate panopticon and the state-sponsored versions.

The boundaries between the two are fast disappearing, if there ever were any.

[Taipe]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Recently I accidentally ended up at the border check point to Canada. I mistakenly passed the last exit and had to go through the lines and speak to an agent. They have blocked the turn around they used to have to simply go back. It took us a half hour for nothing. My reasoning is they are acquiring facial recognition. Just before and at the booth both the US side and Canadian side have a ton of cameras focusing on you are various angles while you wait. It's pretty obvious they are forcing you to go through the booth and get multi angle photos of your face. Then linking that info to your ID.

And, I have often wondered why those US Border Patrol highway checkpoints in the southwest have those camera towers taking pictures of motorists traveling the opposite direction where they are not required to stop.

[john61ct]

Combined facial and license plate recognition cameras are everywhere, including mounted on vehicles.

[yalla]

Originally Posted by letsgetsailing3

That sounded odd, so I looked it up:


U.S. officials say it remains a minuscule percentage of overall travellers — 0.007 per cent, or roughly one per 13,000. The Department of Homeland Security says it's necessary to combat crimes like terrorism and child pornography.


So not really a huge concern to most cruisers or travelers.

First they came for....


then they came for me.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

But as I read it, the change is that the data will now be shared specifically to monitor immigration issues.

I don't have a link to share, but it's my understanding that one significant component of illegal immigrants in the US is people overstaying their visas, and of those the biggest percentage of overstayers.. are Canadians.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by letsgetsailing3

That sounded odd, so I looked it up:


U.S. officials say it remains a minuscule percentage of overall travellers — 0.007 per cent, or roughly one per 13,000. The Department of Homeland Security says it's necessary to combat crimes like terrorism and child pornography.


So not really a huge concern to most cruisers or travelers.

I'd be worried...

WASHINGTON — US government searches of travelers’ cellphones and laptops at airports and border crossings nearly quadrupled since 2015, and were being done for reasons beyond customs and immigration enforcement, according to papers filed Tuesday in a federal lawsuit that claims scouring the electronic devices without a warrant is unconstitutional.

The government has vigorously defended the searches, which rose to 33,295 in fiscal 2018, as a critical tool to protect America. But the newly filed documents claim the scope of the warrantless searches has expanded to assist in enforcement of tax, bankruptcy, environmental and consumer protection laws, gather intelligence and advance criminal investigations.

Source: NY Post

[nwdiver]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Recently I accidentally ended up at the border check point to Canada. I mistakenly passed the last exit and had to go through the lines and speak to an agent. They have blocked the turn around they used to have to simply go back. It took us a half hour for nothing. My reasoning is they are acquiring facial recognition. Just before and at the booth both the US side and Canadian side have a ton of cameras focusing on you are various angles while you wait. It's pretty obvious they are forcing you to go through the booth and get multi angle photos of your face. Then linking that info to your ID.

Those are not just cameras, they are coupled with dynamic microphones that use the vibration from your windshield to record what is being said in the car......that is probably run through a data base of words and if flagged someone immediately listens to your conversation and you get pulled over, a friend thought it would be funny to test it and picked up his phone while entering the US and had a conversation about a movie that BOMBED, he can't enter the US for 5 years, Opps...

[letsgetsailing3]

Originally Posted by yalla

First they came for....


then they came for me.

Right now we have 22 million illegal immigrants in the country. One million have been ordered deported by the courts.

ICE announces that they're going to actually deport 2,000, and the media goes ballistic.

While I do see reason for privacy concern, a root cause of it is the absolute obstinance of the political class and refusal to deal with illegal immigration, which puts the entire burden of compliance on law enforcement at the border.

[rmlarson1098]

Originally Posted by Tetepare

This is being announced very much post facto.

In 2005 with sailing vessels arriving into Toronto for the National Offshore One Design races, Canadian authorities walked the docks targeting specific vessels. Armed with crew lists, they had cross referenced to US government-supplied records. Dozens of crew members with DUI and other low level offenses were removed from boats, bussed to to border, and thrown out of Canada.

Needless to say, that was darned near the end of large US-Canadian races on Lake Ontario (at least) and the economic benefits they bring.

That said, most boaters on the St Lawrence River don’t have time for this Mickey Mouse BS so ignore the boundary and associated rules to check in with govt authorities.

Post facto, you're right. For decades our U.S. boilermakers (construction) moved back and forth across the border to work, from BC to Nova Scotia - and were routinely turned away at the border for DUI/DWI issues, among other problems with U.S. law enforcement. There is a method of 'expunging' (not sure that's the correct term) a DUI in the eyes of Canadian law enforcement, but it's complex and expensive; a few thousand bucks (U.S.) last time I heard.

[letsgetsailing3]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Should be a huge concern for all citizens of nations that value the idea of personal freedom and rule of law, and know that our so-called democratic societies can easily become authoritarian dictatorships in a short period of time.

The idea of having "nothing to hide" disappears pretty quickly when we willingly give up privacy rights to both the private / corporate panopticon and the state-sponsored versions.

The boundaries between the two are fast disappearing, if there ever were any.

What democratic society has become authoritarian recently, other than Venezuela? Most countries are actively opposed to that.

I'd be a lot more worried about corporations sharing your data than law enforcement sharing passport information.

[alansmith]

Facebook and Google are way ahead of gov’t men in sinister motivations and monitoring of every hiccup. Was it a 5 billion dollar fine Facebook just had to cough up this week for invasion of privacy?

Great Britain has a camera everywhere u look. Langley has super computers listening and watching every cell phone and every keystroke.

Get on with it brethren. U ain’t changing a thing. Before too long they will be able to track the movement of cash in every household. Renters who pay under the table that go undisclosed. That two hundred dollars that some bloke paid you to weld his trailer. They will know what it cost you for that week to the beach and how you paid for it. They say that 70% of all money that exchanges hands in Los Angeles is under the table. Gov Ment don’t like that. Mark my words... accounting by stealth is very close to happening.

You used to be able to buy and sell houses without reporting profits back in the 70’s. That disappeared in the early 80’s. I got nothing to hide and sleep well at night. But I know there are people who skipped out on child support and had a few dust ups in life. Times ...’they are a changing’. Dylan. But haven’t they always been a changing?

Pretty soon a burp will be recorded. Microatomization will occur and you will receive an email later that day about drinking too much beer and to cut back on the pepperoni. He he.

[masonc]

Pretty soon all international sailing trips will require going online and registering your voyage, passengers boat details after you leave, and again before you arrive (eAPIS). Every boat will have to transmit AIS and the border control will check your track to make sure you didn't make any deviations. That's where we are headed.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by masonc

Pretty soon all international sailing trips will require going online and registering your voyage, passengers boat details after you leave, and again before you arrive (eAPIS). Every boat will have to transmit AIS and the border control will check your track to make sure you didn't make any deviations. That's where we are headed.

Yup. Part of the reason I don’t transmit AIS.

I know … it’s Sisyphus rolling the stone uphill. But I say resistance is never futile. If we all just roll over and accept the incremental changes, pretty soon we won’t even know what we’ve lost.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by letsgetsailing3

Right now we have 22 million illegal immigrants in the country. One million have been ordered deported by the courts.

ICE announces that they're going to actually deport 2,000, and the media goes ballistic.

While I do see reason for privacy concern, a root cause of it is the absolute obstinance of the political class and refusal to deal with illegal immigration, which puts the entire burden of compliance on law enforcement at the border.

Not 22 million.

The number of undocumented immigrants peaked at about 12 million in 2007 and since that time has declined.[3] According to the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, the estimated population of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. rose rapidly in the 1990s, "from an estimated 3.5 million in 1990 to a peak of 12.2 million in 2007," then dropped sharply during the Great Recession before stabilizing in 2009.[4] Pew estimated the total population to be 11.1 million in 2014, or approximately 3 percent of the U.S. population.[5][4][6]

Source: Wikipedia, linking to Pew

If the US truly wanted to end illegal immigration, there would be an easy to use employment eligibility checking system, and any American individual or business who employed illegals would be fined or imprisoned.

Of course, no such system exists, no businesses are charged, and over 11 million illegals are employed in the US. Crops would rot in the fields, pools and toilets would go uncleaned, hotel beds would sit unmade, golf greens not mowed if there was ever any effective action taken against their employers.

The facts - the numbers of illegals in the US has been decreasing since 2007; employers of illegals face no consequences, and "enforcement" is concentrating on the visible minorities crossing on the southern border, should tell you all you need to know about the real motivations of those championing this as an urgent issue.