> A spokesperson for US Customs and Border Protection said that anyone crossing into the country outside an official port of entry was breaking the law
Surprisingly, this isn't quite true!
You can pre-register for entry from Canada via small boat ("Canadian Border Boat Landing Permit (I-68)")[0]. You make land anywhere and then call CBP and report your entry[1].
The first time I entered Canada—as an Icelandic citizen—was through the borders between Quebec and Vermont[1]. I had some troubles crossing the borders because the border police claimed I didn’t have the means to support my self once on the Canada side (I did), and that I didn’t have travel insurance (which I also did). To cross I needed to gather some paper to persuade the police that I was legit. Funny enough the library in town (where I could access a printer and internet, back in 2011) sits on both sides of the borders. The police had warned me not to exit the library on the Canadian side, or risk being arrested for illegal entry. I don’t remember any warnings inside the library, so I was thankful for the border police for giving me that advice beforehand.
A side note, Europeans have a less strict attitude towards borders (I mean once you are a citizen :-)). You can easily find yourself in another country just because of a wrong turn. Or like when I was in Norway, we would go grocery shopping to Sweden. Germans go for haircuts to Poland. Swedes go for alcohol to Denmark. Even between the ex-SFRY countries (except Croatia and Slovenia) the border passes are a formality, no passport needed for the residents.
It's not so much a less strict attitude but a willingness to co-operate and allow citizens to pass unhindered thanks to the Schengen Agreement. Borders outwith Schengen or on the borders of the EU are policed strictly.
Yeah, I remember (as an American) when I drove across the border from the Czech Republic to Germany the first time: I mentally prepared my answers to the standard questions, got my passport out, took a deep breath and drove up to the border crossing...only to find all of the buildings shuttered and the road completely open.
I remember back before the EU it was common while hiking in the mountains to accidentally step into Austria or Italy from Slovenia. The border was completely unprotected except for roads.
Even on roads the border guards would generally wave you through without even looking at your passport.
I imagine much of the border between Croatia and Slovenia is still like that. Go for a walk in the woods and nobody cares if you step over into another country.
Altho this may hvae changed a bit with the recent migrant crysis. I hear fences were put up in some places
Less strict than crossing between the borders of US states? I don't think so. It's clear your borders premise is itself too strict.
At a national level beween Mexico-US-Canada it was more like that pre 9/11. The US Canadian border is/was famous for having been the longest unguarded border on earth. If you watch older movies before the very late 1990s you'll see routine crossings into Mexico / US / Canada as though it was no big deal, because that's how it was.
Pretty much. The only infrastructure you get between say Netherlands and Belgium is a signpost, but between Schengen and the customs union there's no reason not to. Between UK and Ireland it's less than that.
On the Spain Portugal border there is some infrastructure, at least at some points. One of these is a zipline over a river. Between Netherlands and Germany the border actually runs through some public buildings. Are there any buildings that straddle state lines?
I love stories like this because I love borders and other artificial constructs.
First time I left Europe was to Vancouver. During the trip I drove down the a road that runs along the border with Washington state. Pulled over to loom at the markers. On the other side of the ditch was another parallel road, with occasional traffic, and a speed limit in mph rather than kph.
When I was in Northern Namibia, we illegally crossed the border into Angola to have our evening cocktails. This entailed simply rowing across the river to the sandy shore on the other side.
While we enjoyed our drinks and our illicit behavior, we talked about how the Namibian government had come to the area back when the country was founded and told the local Himba people about where the border was and how they couldn't cross it. The local's response was basically, "WTF are you talking about? We don't recognize any border. Go away," and the government basically did.
I like to judge people on how they treat their guests; same for countries.
This paranoia, suspicion and lack of hospitality is telling. I mean, its not unreasonable for a jogger to not have ID with them, and its not unreasonable for a jogger to get confused there (more so for a foreign jogger).
All this drama, misunderstanding, and costs on society could've been avoided if the US border patrol contacted Canada before throwing this 19 year old French woman in jail for 2 (!!) weeks. Meanwhile, that border patrol could've potentially caught real criminals.
I get treated better by the border agents when entering the EU than I do when entering the US, and I'm a US citizen. I saw them treat a German citizen so rudely once that I felt I had to apologize to the guy and buy him a beer once we both got through.
Surprisingly, this isn't quite true!
You can pre-register for entry from Canada via small boat ("Canadian Border Boat Landing Permit (I-68)")[0]. You make land anywhere and then call CBP and report your entry[1].
[0]: https://www.cbp.gov/travel/pleasure-boats-private-flyers/ple...
[1]: https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/67/~/pleasure-b....
[1]: https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=14/45.0047/-72.0941
http://www.amusingplanet.com/2012/11/the-curious-case-of-baa...
Even on roads the border guards would generally wave you through without even looking at your passport.
I imagine much of the border between Croatia and Slovenia is still like that. Go for a walk in the woods and nobody cares if you step over into another country.
Altho this may hvae changed a bit with the recent migrant crysis. I hear fences were put up in some places
At a national level beween Mexico-US-Canada it was more like that pre 9/11. The US Canadian border is/was famous for having been the longest unguarded border on earth. If you watch older movies before the very late 1990s you'll see routine crossings into Mexico / US / Canada as though it was no big deal, because that's how it was.
On the Spain Portugal border there is some infrastructure, at least at some points. One of these is a zipline over a river. Between Netherlands and Germany the border actually runs through some public buildings. Are there any buildings that straddle state lines?
First time I left Europe was to Vancouver. During the trip I drove down the a road that runs along the border with Washington state. Pulled over to loom at the markers. On the other side of the ditch was another parallel road, with occasional traffic, and a speed limit in mph rather than kph.
While we enjoyed our drinks and our illicit behavior, we talked about how the Namibian government had come to the area back when the country was founded and told the local Himba people about where the border was and how they couldn't cross it. The local's response was basically, "WTF are you talking about? We don't recognize any border. Go away," and the government basically did.
This paranoia, suspicion and lack of hospitality is telling. I mean, its not unreasonable for a jogger to not have ID with them, and its not unreasonable for a jogger to get confused there (more so for a foreign jogger).
All this drama, misunderstanding, and costs on society could've been avoided if the US border patrol contacted Canada before throwing this 19 year old French woman in jail for 2 (!!) weeks. Meanwhile, that border patrol could've potentially caught real criminals.