We ALWAYS get stopped at the US/Can border... WHY?!?

You probably fit some profile of people they're looking for.

Betcha didn't think of that when you passed the tattoo/piercing parlor?

I think youn hit the nail on the head..young, tattoos, piercings, the car etc. Unfortunately, the border is a whole new ball game. You are entering a foriegn country so they can pretty much do what they like. You essentially have no rights, except not to go. You fit a profile. The only thing you can do is change your image or deal with it and be polite. If you have nothing to worry about, you have nothing to worry about.

You can call or right a letter to their customs, but odds are they won't be able to tell you much. If you question the agents at the border, they seem to get more hostile, so its not worth it. Just always leave extra time and make sure you never have anything illegal in your car.

It is ramdon checks but it may depend on the patrol person working the nights you go. I went to Windsor with my husband quite a few times and he has tons of tatoos and we never got stopped. Never had to show out birth certificates either, usually just his ID and the 20 questions. It is just luck that you get stopped everytime unless you just look terroristc or something. Maybe it is the way you look and the border patrol is afraid of how you look so that is why they stop you. The next time you get stopped, if you do, try politely asking the patrol person the same question.

The third paragraph goes alot towards answering your own question. Other criteria they use in deciding who to spot check is your answers. More than just the words you say they are trained to listen to the inflection in your voice, and hesitation to simple questions, actions of the people inside the vehicle. condition of the vehicle (cluttered etc). Frequency of travel. When your plate is scanned they have a record of how often you travel, times of day you travel, number of passengers in the vehicle AND if they have had reason to search you before. If they have before they probably will again. Remember those piercings, tattoos and all those stickers that express yourself are also the first impression you present to strangers.

I used to travel to Windsor myself, until they made a birth certificate a requirement. At the time, it was no big deal, but the problem is that my certificate is white ink on black paper, though it is official because it has the official state seal in the document. I was allowed to go to Canada with my friends, but upon re-entry, I was not allowed to enter the US because they thought the birth certificate was a forged document. Good luck copying a document on black paper with white ink. I was held for a couple of hours while they tried to figure out my citizenship when they came to the conclusion that everything about my birth on that document was accurate. By then, my friends were long gone home and tucked in the bed, while I rode the bus home in freezing cold weather at 3AM. My question was at the time, if I have a document showing that I was born in the US, and it was proven that I was born in the US, but I was told that I was lying, where could they have possbily thought I was from? My alledged lack of citizenship never stopped them from taking taxes out of my paycheck, so that alone proves I am american because my taxes aren't working for me.

You said it, the @-holes are profiling you because of your appearance. I ain't siding with them at all and definitely am not saying it's right but, if I saw you the way you described yourself, my first thought my be along those lines myself.

A thing that I do now since I own my own business is to, charge the officer in question personally for your time. As they say time is money. My wife and I work together so if she's with me I charge even more. We have a two hour minimum @ $60 per hour for the two of us. So if I get searched or detained for any reason and then released with no charges I make out and present the officer in question with a bill at a later date of course. When the officer does not pay the bill, I keep sending them to him until such a time that I turn it over to a collection agency which then starts destroying his credit. If I had a particularly bad experience with said officer, I have even sued in small claims to further destroy his credit. Try it, you'll like it!

I'll bet it's the tattoos and the goatee. And that you're young and driving a car covered in stickers.

My dh would always get pulled aside at the airport, until he shaved his goatee.

Because most likely you have been stopped by different inspectors every time...and from the way you describe yourself and your girlfriend, ANY inspector who has never seen you before is going to stop you ( if they're worth a damn)

I always get stopped at the Mexican border and searched. It's no big deal.

I get the same thing, its because your younger, thats it.