I don't know of a building but I have been
"transferred", as you say, across a bridge from Canada to the US. I've
told this story here before but the summary is:
I was 18 years old and hitchhiking from Boston to
the west coast. At the time, hitchhiking was not legal in Pennsylvania or
Ohio so I decided to circumvent them by entering Canada in Buffalo, NY and
popping back out in Detroit, MI. I walked across the Peace Bridge in
Buffalo but was denied entry into Canada, handed a document declaring me an
"undesirable alien", and sent back across the bridge. The US customs
officers got a kick out of this and gave me another piece of paper and told me
to go back to Canada, which I did. Of course the US paper meant nothing
and I was sent back to the US. Please bear in mind that it was probably
100 degrees in the shade, of which there was none on the bridge, and the bridge
was about a mile across. Anyway, on my second return to the US I
stopped in the middle of the bridge, between the US and Canada flagpoles and ate
lunch, then proceeded to US customs where I was denied entry because it was not
permitted to hitchhike on the New York Thruway. After several hours of
sitting in an interrogation room twiddling my thumbs, a youngish customs guy
gave me materials to make a sign to use in lieu of hitchhiking. I had no
idea where to go so I simply wrote "Out of Here" in block letters. The
second car picked me up and I was out of there, having lost a day and my sense
of humor regarding both countries' customs services.
BJB
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2001 2:13
PM
Subject: [BoundaryPoint] Law and Order on
the border (TV show)
Dallen's recent great photos of the Derby Line/Rock Island area
got me thinking about a recent episode of the TV program Law and Order
which was broadcast here in the US a few weeks ago. In that episode, the
bad guy crossed over the caus line and had to be extradited back to the U.S.
after a hearing by a Canadian court. The end of the episode showed the
RCMP transferring custody of the bad guy to U.S. authorities while inside a
building plainly showing separate Canadian and American sections through which
the criminal was transferred through a locked door into the U.S. There
was even the requisite sign on the wall which stated something to the effect
that "You are now entering the United States of America". Obviously,this
was a TV show, but does anyone know of any such "custodial transfer"
facilities on the border? I'm sure in real life it's more of a case
where the U.S. authorities seeking the criminal would actually travel to
Canada to obtain physical custody after approval was issued by the
Crown. In any event, this was a rare TV treat for a border
freak!
Bill
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