Let’s start off on a positive note. It’ll be the only positive note of the series, unless you are some sort of separatist reading this, or an American who wants this to happen really badly.
Canada becoming a state would make it easier to travel to the other states if a person was so inclined to do so these days.
The following is a list of sorts of the things Canadians have to do in order to cross the boarder to visit the United States currently.
They can take all sorts of other biometric data like fingerprints and social media history. This is no big deal if you’re a regular, normal, boring person. Technically these things have been around for years, but when you write them all out it can seem like a lot.
The news that some travellers visiting the U.S. might soon be asked to share personal things like social media and email accounts has left many Canadians unsettled about what could happen at the border.
A notice published Wednesday in the U.S. Federal Register said U.S. Customs and Border
Protection advises collecting five years’ worth of social media information from travellers from some countries that don’t need to get visas to come to the U.S. It’s the latest move by the Trump administration when it comes to monitoring international travellers and immigrants.
But one immigration expert says the move is part of a continuing trend that’s been in place for decades.
Benjamin Green is a senior associate at Green and Spiegel LLP, law firm based in Toronto that specializes in immigration services.
He said the advisory specifies that social media history will be an explicit search for those who need visas to enter the U.S. Canadians are visa-exempt.
However, U.S. border officials are able to ask to search the contents of cellphones, so while Canadians aren’t directly impacted by this change, it can be helpful to be aware of the existing policies.
Green says in a lot of ways, the possible requirements aren’t anything new, but it’s making people more aware of the sorts of questions they can expect in a more confrontational situation at the border.
He explained to CTVNews.ca on Friday that when Canadians travel to the U.S., they don’t need a formal visa in their passport, unlike countries such as China, India and many others.
Since social media assessment is happening in those interviews for a travel visa, the only place for Canadians to have that is at the border.
“These are some questions that came up last year when people started being questioned for their phone and laptop (at the border),” he told CTVNews.ca “But the truth is, that has sort of been the policy for the last 20 years, it just doesn’t happen as often as maybe it’s happening right now.”
Here is the rest of that article.
Logically, all of this would go away. I don’t believe it is worth it in the long run though.