Wasn’t it about the Germans being tattoo artists and even having their tattoo machine with them? That had nothing to do with house sitting, right?
One of those cases was the tattoo artist, travelling with another tattoo artist who is an American citizen.
The other case was a German doctor who had been to Mexico with his American girlfriend to get their dog treated by a vet in Mexico.
Those detentions at the US border are the kind of Kafka situations that I really don’t want to risk getting into.
2 Likes
Kafkaesque is indeed the word. One day, over a cold beer, I’ll tell you the long and strange story of how I (UK citizen, UK passport) was held for hours in a US immigration office and ultimately refused entry because their system had me down as a Libyan citizen! 
2 Likes
My girlfriend’s name starts with “Als-”. It is an old Frisian name (from before the US existed) but I doubt it is possible to explain that to some of those border guards.
She would just risk getting locked up with the Alsisis and the Alsistanis, etc…
1 Like
There are three cases in the press recently involving people trying to enter the US with a tourist visa and for whatever reasons not just being denied entry and turned away but actually being sent to a detention center where they won’t be released until they can go before a judge – even if they want to go home – and many of the judges have been fired so it’s not clear when they’ll get their court dates. That is what the situation is. The topic is “challenges with border guards” so I thought they were relevant and on topic.
1 Like
I guess it’s more like “Challenges with Border Guards” (in relation to THS), not in general.
I think the odds of sitters facing challenges will increase if border controls are tightened.
1 Like
Okay. I guess I explained poorly. Let me explain why I think it’s relevant:
My point was that sitters as well as others are now facing challenges when they cross into the US and that the consequences have changed from simply being turned away to being taken into custody for an indeterminate amount of time. This is relevant to sitters because the stakes have risen.
All these cases have a few things in common. All these cases and the one years ago involving the Austrlian woman involved multiple entries to the US that set off the suspicions of border guards. So if a sitter was planning to come and go from the US multiple times even with a 3 month or 6 month tourist visa – they should be very cautious about crossing back in to the US --especially from Canada or Mexico. It’s no longer a quesiton of being turned away. It’s a question of possibly being placed in custody for an inderteminant time.
7 Likes
Is the “Australian woman”, the journalist who caused all the who ha a couple of years ago? She caused a lot of damage by the publicity she got.
Hi everyone,
As always, we’re happy to give you a place for general discussion about immigration, but we don’t allow discussions about any specific community members.
I understand the relevancy to the discussion, but let’s keep things more general.
Thank you! 
I mentioned that incident because it also fit into the pattern of the person being targetted for a secondary screening due to multiple entries to the U.S. Probably some of the cases on this thread involving Canadains also had the multiple entry issue. That’s the takeaway in terms of challenges with border guards. A person (sitter or not) is more likely to be get a secondary screening if they have multiple US entries in a relatively short amount of time. This is one of those things that sitters should be aware of – whatever your opinion is about “the damage” caused by the publicity. (Frankly, I’m willing to bet that the publicity didn’t damage THS at all as even getting the name and idea into the papers probably got more people to sign up and led to more people who are members being aware of issues and not presenting the letter!)
2 Likes
I wasn’t thinking about the damage to THS. It was the damage done to fellow sitters because the publicity surrounding the incident made more and more people aware of the laws.
However, I can see how multiple crossings of borders in a short time would be a red flag to border security.
You wrote " I wasn’t thinking about the damage to THS. It was the damage done to fellow sitters because the publicity surrounding the incident made more and more people aware of the laws."
So are you saying it’s bad for people to be aware of the laws?
1 Like
Just curious if anyone has any thoughts on entering Canada as a US citizen. With tensions between the US and Canada, I’m wondering if border crossings might get more difficult in both directions. I have a sit scheduled in Canada in a few months that I would be driving to and I’m a bit concerned just because things are so unpredictable now.
I can’t comment personally on that since I have never done any sits in Canada, but one general thing I wanted to share: From what I have read about the land border crossing between the two countries is that generally speaking, when entering Canada this way, you may be more likely to face more extensive questioning about your travel plans.
It could help to have some hotel bookings set up–I do this sometimes just in case and just cancel the reservation immediately once I get the confirmation. I have never had to actually use them. I suppose there is a risk to this strategy if a border agent actually called a hotel to see if the reservation is still active but I imagine the chances of that happening is slim to none.
I am personally not a fan of saying you are staying with friends. Given that the average tourist is not subject to any sort of deep interrogation about their travel plans, I am sure that most people have no issues when they say this, but in the off-chance someone were to be questioned more extensively, I think it could lead to problems.
2 Likes
I can understand why. Things are volatile and there’s no way to know how they’ll be in a few months. In your shoes, even if willing to do it, I’d consider checking the temperature with the host in case they are having feelings about it as well. I think there are good suggestions on mitigation in this thread: Eg: (1) don’t offer information that isn’t asked for (2) Don’t mention housesitting (3) maybe have camping equipment and/or reservations for the first few days so if asked where you are staying you can tell them the hotel/airbnb etc.
1 Like
@Marion that’s a good point that the HO may be having the same concerns. I may check in with her. We may both have concerns but neither wants to cancel a confirmed sit.
I am planning to go a few days early anyway, so I will have a hotel booked for those days. I’ve never really worried about it before, I’ve been to 35 countries and have done sits in 7 countries. But, who knows how things will progress over the next few months.
1 Like
No. People should be aware of the laws as should security personnel. But how many border security actually realised that pet sitting is a very grey arena? Now they definitely know because of the publicity surrounding that high profile case. Which makes it far more difficult to get through the borders without intense scrutiny.
In my opinion, and it’s only mine, it’s far easier to duck under the radar when no one really understands that bit of the law.
I see! At least within the US there are many rules about internships, volunteer work, and even things that are considered “cultural exchange” not being okay on a tourist visa, so I doubt the case put border guards more on alert for this. Hopefully, at least, more sitters got the message about being careful about what they say and how they might appear to border guards.
Current situation aside, your age is an important factor. Younger people always have a more difficult time because of the financial concerns of how they will support themselves on extended stays in Canada. I don’t know your age, but if you’re 50+ you’re unlikely to get the same level of interrogation because you’re not seen as a risk to work illegally. But crossing by land definitely has more interrogation in both directions than crossing by air regardless of your age.