This isn't going to help the Sabres

[PromoTheRobot]

Canadians Are Avoiding Buffalo Border Crossings: Agents Allegedly Asking Questions About Past Trips https://share.google/qNQ7GWzq3193ibJA5

No one in Fort Erie or St. Catherine's is going to risk this for a mid week Sabres game.

[JohnC]

10 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Canadians Are Avoiding Buffalo Border Crossings: Agents Allegedly Asking Questions About Past Trips https://share.google/qNQ7GWzq3193ibJA5

No one in Fort Erie or St. Catherine's is going to risk this for a mid week Sabres game.

The rate of Canadian attendance will also be down for weekend games. I don't blame them for not wanting to deal with the foolishness and patronize businesses on the other side of the border. When you treat people disrespectfully the negative reaction shouldn't be a surprise.  

[Pimlach]

48 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Canadians Are Avoiding Buffalo Border Crossings: Agents Allegedly Asking Questions About Past Trips https://share.google/qNQ7GWzq3193ibJA5

No one in Fort Erie or St. Catherine's is going to risk this for a mid week Sabres game.

I crossed the boarder in Niagara falls twice this summer.  Had no problems either way.  I was questioned more coming back into the US but nothing unusual.  

No doubt that Canadians coming over has reduced.   I would expect that for Bills and Sabres games that the Boarder Agents will expedite the process and not drill into "past trips".   That seems silly unless the person crossing sets a flag.  

If the team is actually good (not likely) and a legitimate contender for post season then some of them will come.  If they are the same as last year then they probably won't.  The product on the ice will still be a determining factor.  

[SwampD]

Now we have thought police at the borders?!

… and we’re only 8 months in,… good lord.

[LGR4GM]

7 minutes ago, SwampD said:

Now we have thought police at the borders?!

… and we’re only 8 months in,… good lord.

At the borders, for federal agencies, they're trying to push them into academia and public schools. They wrote their plan down, we could all read it. 

[Pimlach]

2 minutes ago, SwampD said:

Now we have thought police at the borders?!

… and we’re only 8 months in,… good lord.

Thought police?   Read the article and the comments.  From what I can tell there is nothing unusual happening. But the media can make it sound like it is.  

Extra questions?   I had no problems and they asked "extra questions", so what, they were harmless and for clarity.   None of my friends and family have had problems, the Canadian people who actually crossed and commented in the article had no problems.  Answer the questions, don't lie, if you have nothing to hide then you will not have a problem.  

Questions about past trips are normal when people travel to certain locations - Middle East, China, Russia, Israel, Iran, and others - those stamps in your passport will drive more questions, especially entering into the US and not just from Canada, but from any entry point.  That has been happening for decades.  

[K-9]

Media spin or not, routine crossings or not, extra questions or not, Sabre fans or not, the fact remains that Canadian visits dropped by 37% in July compared to 2024. This has hurt businesses on the border that have long depended on those Canadian customers.

[Pimlach]

1 minute ago, K-9 said:

Media spin or not, routine crossings or not, extra questions or not, Sabre fans or not, the fact remains that Canadian visits dropped by 37% in July compared to 2024. This has hurt businesses on the border that have long depended that Canadian business. 

Correct.  I saw that first hand in Lewiston at Art Park in July.  The show was poorly attended and the couple sitting behind us, who are Canadian, told me that Canadians were not coming over very much.    

On the topic of extra questions.  I had Saudi stamps on an old passport.  My old company did a lot of business with them.   Those stamps caused me "extra questions" some of the time when entering the US.   Since the work was DoD and I could not say much, that brought on more extra questions.  I was happy when that passport expired.  

[JoeSchmoe]

Canadian here.

I know a LOT of Canadians who aren't crossing over and say they won't until Trump is out... even if the trade situation improves. Rightly or wrongly, the media here is very anti-Trump and they've done their best to paint the worst picture possible. 

I'm not a black or white person, and I still actively cross... though bad exchange and US inflation has reduced the frequency (I'm going to the Finger Lakes on Friday).  I suspect part of the 37% are people like me.

I think the border has actually gotten friendlier since the tension started. The US border guards are better than the Canadian ones! Maybe they had customer service lessons with all the poor media attention.

[LGR4GM]

12 minutes ago, JoeSchmoe said:

Canadian here.

I know a LOT of Canadians who aren't crossing over and say they won't until Trump is out... even if the trade situation improves. Rightly or wrongly, the media here is very anti-Trump and they've done their best to paint the worst picture possible. 

I'm not a black or white person, and I still actively cross... though bad exchange and US inflation has reduced the frequency (I'm going to the Finger Lakes on Friday).  I suspect part of the 37% are people like me.

I think the border has actually gotten friendlier since the tension started. The US border guards are better than the Canadian ones! Maybe they had customer service lessons with all the poor media attention.

Which Finger Lake? 

[JoeSchmoe]

1 minute ago, LGR4GM said:

Which Finger Lake? 

Plan is a take it slow day. Going to take Rt 20A until the 390, then veer south to Dansville. From there we'll head to Naples and putter around there for a bit. Then drive through the Bristol hills along Rt 21 into Canandaigua. I love the views along there. We'll stop at any of the farms, wineries, breweries, and antique shops that capture our interest along the way.

I booked a hotel in the Pittsford area and we may hang out in that area Saturday.

[SwampD]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

Thought police?   Read the article and the comments.  From what I can tell there is nothing unusual happening. But the media can make it sound like it is.  

Extra questions?   I had no problems and they asked "extra questions", so what, they were harmless and for clarity.   None of my friends and family have had problems, the Canadian people who actually crossed and commented in the article had no problems.  Answer the questions, don't lie, if you have nothing to hide then you will not have a problem.  

Questions about past trips are normal when people travel to certain locations - Middle East, China, Russia, Israel, Iran, and others - those stamps in your passport will drive more questions, especially entering into the US and not just from Canada, but from any entry point.  That has been happening for decades.  

Yeah. The line "we have heard that phone searches are increasing," should have been a give-away that hyperbole was to follow.

[irregularly irregular]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

Thought police?   Read the article and the comments.  From what I can tell there is nothing unusual happening. But the media can make it sound like it is.  

Extra questions?   I had no problems and they asked "extra questions", so what, they were harmless and for clarity.   None of my friends and family have had problems, the Canadian people who actually crossed and commented in the article had no problems.  Answer the questions, don't lie, if you have nothing to hide  then you will not have a problem.  

Questions about past trips are normal when people travel to certain locations - Middle East, China, Russia, Israel, Iran, and others - those stamps in your passport will drive more questions, especially entering into the US and not just from Canada, but from any entry point.  That has been happening for decades.  

Yep, don't lie. One or two extra questions to see if you are being deceptive or not is all it's about. They feel that you are not being truthful, then it escalates. The days of doing a fly-by at the border are over. 

[Indabuff]

Crossings have obviously decreased but it's still routine line of questioning. 

If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to worry about. 

[Doohickie]

56 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Which Finger Lake? 

The Middle One.

[shrader]

48 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

The Middle One.

Ha, I had the same exact response all ready to go.

[LabattBlue]

1 hour ago, Indabuff said:

Crossings have obviously decreased but it's still routine line of questioning. 

If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to worry about. 

Exactly.  On a related note, what exactly consists of a “phone search” at the border?

 

PS More than likely, if the number of Canadians at Sabres games are down(only the Sabres have that info), it is because the team continues to be terrible, and the exchange rate equally terrible. 

[JohnC]

6 minutes ago, LabattBlue said:

Exactly.  On a related note, what exactly consists of a “phone search” at the border?

 

PS More than likely, if the number of Canadians at Sabres games are down(only the Sabres have that info), it is because the team continues to be terrible, and the exchange rate equally terrible. 

I wonder if there will be a drop of Canadians going to Bills games? I wouldn’t be surprised if the stressed  inter- country relations  had little effect due to the better product on the field.

[shrader]

2 hours ago, JoeSchmoe said:

Canadian here.

I know a LOT of Canadians who aren't crossing over and say they won't until Trump is out... even if the trade situation improves. Rightly or wrongly, the media here is very anti-Trump and they've done their best to paint the worst picture possible. 

I'm not a black or white person, and I still actively cross... though bad exchange and US inflation has reduced the frequency (I'm going to the Finger Lakes on Friday).  I suspect part of the 37% are people like me.

I think the border has actually gotten friendlier since the tension started. The US border guards are better than the Canadian ones! Maybe they had customer service lessons with all the poor media attention.

It does make me wonder about how many people actually have had the uncomfortable experiences vs. how many have heard a story of one.  People do have a way of magically making those stories their own.

[SABRES 0311]

1 hour ago, LabattBlue said:

Exactly.  On a related note, what exactly consists of a “phone search” at the border?

 

PS More than likely, if the number of Canadians at Sabres games are down(only the Sabres have that info), it is because the team continues to be terrible, and the exchange rate equally terrible. 

Theres probably open source information on the phone question. In depth might not be appropriate for this site. I dunno.

[PromoTheRobot]

5 hours ago, JohnC said:

The rate of Canadian attendance will also be down for weekend games. I don't blame them for not wanting to deal with the foolishness and patronize businesses on the other side of the border. When you treat people disrespectfully the negative reaction shouldn't be a surprise.  

True. I just meant that on mid-week work nights folks would not want to risk ANY delay due to an over-zealous border grunt.

[PromoTheRobot]

2 hours ago, Indabuff said:

Crossings have obviously decreased but it's still routine line of questioning. 

If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to worry about. 

Who decides that?

1 hour ago, LabattBlue said:

Exactly.  On a related note, what exactly consists of a “phone search” at the border?

 

PS More than likely, if the number of Canadians at Sabres games are down(only the Sabres have that info), it is because the team continues to be terrible, and the exchange rate equally terrible. 

Then explain the drop when the Sabres aren't playing?