Originally Posted by
bocastephen
This is a ridiculous suggestion and won't happen.
No more ridiculous than the TSA forcing connecting checked bags to misconnects due to unnecessary re-screening.
Originally Posted by
bocastephen
The volume of air traffic between the two countries is too high to warrant domestic arrivals in the US being processed as international flights.
I suspect you are American and probably regard Canada as the 51st state. But technically Canada is not domestic, and the U.S. and Canadian border control agencies treat these flights as international.
Note that volume of air traffic between the UK and the Schengen area is pretty high too, and yet the UK processes flights arriving from Schengen as international. So it is naive to think that this "ridiculous" "suggestion" (it is a prediction, not a suggestion, on my part) cannot come to pass, especially considering that this would come from DHS ... not exactly an agency composed of bright bulbs in its leadership.
Originally Posted by
bocastephen
Just because it took YOU 1.5hrs to clear, doesn't mean the rest of us can't clear faster - in fact, my average at YYZ T3 is usually under 5 minutes for both CBP and security (using Nexus), while T1 can be longer due to the higher volume of passengers waiting to clear security.
Not everyone can get NEXUS ... I got GE, but was denied NEXUS. The bulk of Canadian travelers won't get NEXUS, and if they have to have TSA screening in the U.S. whether they are confused or not by the different agencies of DHS will not lessen their outrage.
Originally Posted by
kochleffel
I think you are confusing travel security with customs and immigration.
No I'm not.
Originally Posted by
kochleffel
As far as I know, when you board any flight in Canada, security is in the hands of CATSA.
Yes, that's the point.
Originally Posted by
kochleffel
Pre-clearance for US destinations is handled by US Customs and Border Patrol and is in place of customs and immigration inspection upon arrival.
There is a potential for confusion in the US because both TSA and CPB are parts of the same agency, but you seem to be getting worked up about something that did not happen.
My point is that if Canadians routinely have to put up with an hour or more to clear U.S. immigration and customs in Canada, and then at the first U.S. destination, endure another hour of TSA screening (in order to be consistent with bag re-screening), then they might elect MPs who ban U.S. immigration and customs pre-clearance in Canada, since there is no benefit to Canadians to pre-clearance. Until the TSA was created, the benefit of pre-clearance was that Canadians would not be deported upon entry to the U.S. for whatever reason. This benefit pales in comparison with the hassle of bags not being delivered to the final destination now due to TSA stupidity, and if the stupidity is escalated, then there will be no benefit to pre-clearance at all.
Another data point is that this was the first time in my experience at YYC that travelers were not not allowed to enter the CBP queue more than two hours before scheduled departure. This only compounds the problem.