- I told the border guy I got paid via 'PayPal' and he had no idea what that was, they had to spend 20min Googling it
- My friends friend paid for our plane tickets, so they grilled us why we didnt buy our own
- I made a mistake on the customs claims sheet where I crossed something out and replaced it. Apparently they think this means you are trying to hide something and need to look through every piece of luggage, including possible hiding places in the luggage (that didnt turn out to exist).
There are countless reasons to get harassed. Hardly has to do with obvious security issues.
My solution is simple (if a bit of a cop out): I've decided not to visit the USA again until they retire the madness. If that means I'll never visit again then so be it. I used to go there several times per year and at some point the frustration over yet another confrontation with the 'first line of defense' boiled over into 'I don't actually have to be here' and I have spent my holiday money elsewhere ever since. It's got to add up over time, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only person that made that decision.
Same, my clients always want me to travel to SF (entirely paid for and everything) but now I rarely do unless it is really important.
The biggest reason is the frequent harassment I have went through going there on numerous occasions, not just by US but also coming back into Canada. But this is very much a quiet protest, same with you I presume, I'm not an activist. The true cost of their security theater is largely unreported IMO. I'd expect there are countless people like us not contributing to the US business world or tourism thx to overly-aggressive security.
- I told the border guy I got paid via 'PayPal' and he had no idea what that was, they had to spend 20min Googling it
- My friends friend paid for our plane tickets, so they grilled us why we didnt buy our own
- I made a mistake on the customs claims sheet where I crossed something out and replaced it. Apparently they think this means you are trying to hide something and need to look through every piece of luggage, including possible hiding places in the luggage (that didnt turn out to exist).
There are countless reasons to get harassed. Hardly has to do with obvious security issues.