The American Police State

For decades, Canadians have felt safe and welcome travelling back and forth across the longest unsecured border in the world. That's changed and is likely to get worse now that Congressional Republicans have given the Trump administration's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) a budget larger than most of the world's militaries.

The American police state is already causing labor disruptions, devastating families and yes, detaining Canadian citizens as unidentified masked agents raid work sites, stake out immigration courts and pullover vehicles under the guise of minor infractions.

This is a totally separate issue from Trump's tariff assault... which has stirred our 'buy Canadian' patriotism and caused many Canadian and European travelers to forego visiting the US. Despite our close ties with our US friends and family...the America we grew up with is no longer the safe, friendly neighbour we once visited on a whim.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand recently told CTV News that approximately 55 Canadians have been detained by US ICE agents in recent months.

Here are a couple of examples...and you don't even need to be a tourist.

Quebec man warning Canadian boaters after he was detained by U.S. Coast guard, put in jail cell

"A Quebec man says he is outraged after the U.S. Coast Guard accused him of fishing in American waters and then arrested him before putting him in a jail cell for nearly two hours.

Edouard Lallemand, 60, said he nearly drowned during the ordeal last Sunday afternoon after the Coast Guard’s boat “pushed” his boat, causing it to capsize.

Days after the incident, he’s still shaken up.

“I’m never going to be the same,” he told CTV News."...

“I said, ‘No, I’m very sorry, I’m in Canada.’ And I said I’m polite enough to talk to you guys but you cannot arrest me. ‘You can’t come across the border and pick me up’ but they did,” he recalled.

Lallemand started his engine and said he wanted to talk with the officers by the shore, but the Coast Guard followed and tried to push him into the U.S., which is what caused him to go overboard.

“They’re tying my boat to their boat. They’re not even taking care of me. The third time I went down, coming out with water in my mouth, spitting it out, I said throw me a buoy,” he said.

Once on their vessel, he said he was aggressively put in handcuffs. “I never saw somebody so angry,” he said.

He was then handed over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, who fingerprinted him, put him in a jail cell with his clothes soaking wet, and gave him a “dirty” blanket.

Yikes!

‘She’s not a criminal’: Family of Canadian woman detained by ICE pleads for her release

The family of a Montreal woman detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is urgently pleading for her release and hoping to bring her home.

Paula Callejas, 45, has been detained by ICE for the last three months, moving between multiple detention centres and costing her family up to $25,000 in legal fees without any success in getting her out.

“She’s not a criminal,” her mother Amria Estella Cano, a Mississauga, Ont., resident told Global News on Wednesday. “It’s really hard for her and our family.”...

Her mother says she was in the process of renewing her visa when she had an altercation with her boyfriend. She was was arrested for a misdemeanour and later transferred to an ICE facility, according to a relative who does not want to be identified.

“She has switched from four different detention centres,” the relative told Global. “And the situation in the centres is not good.”

Her family says the 45-year-old is now stuck in a facility in Arizona, and her mental health is declining.

“We’re very worried. Every time we talk to her, her mood is just deteriorating. The last time we talked to her, we were very concerned about her well-being, and even concerned about her coming home alive,” her relative said.

Canadian immigration lawyers have been advising Canadians that do intend to cross the border to make sure they do what they can to avoid either being turned back at the border or worse...detained once they are somewhere inside the US.

Key things to consider:

• Have an itinerary of where and when you will be travelling

• Answer questions truthfully

• Take a burner phone without any social media apps

US Customs Agents will likely ask to check your electronics (phone, laptop, etc) and can even download data from them if they choose to. Recent news stories have revealed that if your social media includes any anti-Trump comments, links or other information you may be refused entry to the US.

In my view, this is a better outcome than getting through the border and subsequently being stopped and potentially detained deeper into the US where it could become a much more dire situation for you or a family member. And it's not just Canadians...

A Mexican diplomat has issued a rare travel warning urging citizens to avoid Florida, citing the recent arrest and ongoing detention of two Mexican tourists who have yet to receive a fair hearing.

Juan Sabines, Mexico’s consul in Orlando, told Talking Points Memo that visitors “should take extreme precautions or not come to Florida” following the high-profile case of brothers Carlos and Óscar González, both of whom were detained after a routine traffic stop earlier this month.

The upside of the America’s abruptly unfriendly turn is that Canada is now seen as the most free and safe country in North America and it’s paying off with a booming tourism season right here at home.

North American Tourism: A Tale of Two Countries

US Tourism Faces Decline

The tourism industry in the United States is witnessing a notable drop in international visitors. According to recent reports, there has been a sharp decline in international tourism to the US this year, marking a significant shift from past patterns. Experts attribute this decline to a mix of political friction, high travel costs, and ongoing visa issues that have made the US a less attractive destination for travelers. Additionally, political protests and boycotts against US cities have prompted many potential visitors to reconsider their travel plans.

US cities that were once top tourist destinations are now grappling with these shifting patterns, creating long-term challenges for the American tourism sector. Despite this decline, Delta Airlines has emerged as the top-performing US airline for 2025, underscoring that the airline industry is somewhat insulated from the broader tourism slowdown.

Canada’s Tourism Surge

On the flip side, Canada is experiencing a boom in tourism. The country has successfully capitalized on friendlier immigration policies and well-executed marketing campaigns, such as the Canada Strong domestic pass, attracting international tourists. Travelers are also choosing Canada for its increased safety perceptions and overall ease of access. Experts predict that Canada will continue to see rising visitor numbers, as more travelers are choosing it over destinations like the US, making it a bright spot in North American tourism.

US farmers, Contractors and manufacturing businesses are warning the Trump Administration that they're creating havoc and driving up costs for businesses that depend on immigrant labour to run their operations. ICE raids snare dozens of workers while scaring the others off for days or weeks at a time. It's a foreseeable problem that many convinced themselves wouldn't affect them...until it did.

ICE-Fueled Worker Shortage Threatens US Food Supply Chain

There are more than 850,000 crop workers keeping America’s farms running, and the Department of Agriculture estimates almost half are undocumented. Thousands of people who are in this country without permission milk cows, pick fruit, process food and work at restaurants. Others construct buildings, keep hospitality services going and make garments.

But with the Trump administration instructing ICE agents to go after anyone regardless of where they work, employees are running scared, businesses have been thrown into disarray, and public unrest is boiling over—nowhere more visibly than in Los Angeles. President Trump has acknowledged that his immigration crackdown was hurting farms and hotels, and promised to back off those industries. Yet, just days later, he doubled down—vowing to pursue migrants in America’s major cities.

Across California, people are not showing up to work. Cows are going unmilked, onions rot in the field, and Los Angeles’s once-bustling garment district is emptying out. With tariffs driving up the cost of foreign foods and domestic production on the decline, shoppers could soon face unwelcome surprises at the grocery store—and on the dinner table.

“We will not feed our people in this country without these workers, plain and simple,” said Shay Myers, who runs Parma, Idaho-based Owyhee Produce, one of America’s largest onion farms.

This construction project was on time and on budget. Then came ICE.

Robertson says the problems started the day after about 100 workers were detained in an immigration raid in Tallahassee, Florida, on May 29.

Most of his workforce of more than 100 workers are immigrants from Mexico and Central America and nearly all of them stayed away from work for several days. Seven weeks later just over half of those immigrant workers have trickled back, leaving Robertson significantly short-staffed.

The 22-person roofing team is down to 12. The roof, which should have been completed by now, is not finished, exposing parts of the interior to rain at a time of year when thunderstorms are common.

Electrical work, plumbing, finishing off the dry wall and installation of sports equipment are all behind schedule.

Robertson said his company is facing potentially $84,000 in extra costs for the delays, under a "liquidated damages" clause of $4,000 for every day the project runs beyond its November 1 deadline.

"I am a Trump supporter, but I just don't think the raids is the answer," he said.

Increased raids and billions in new funding for ICE agents and detention centres like the now famous 'Alligator Alcatraz' are clear warnings that the US is no longer the freindly neighbour we can trust. We all need to get our heads around the fact that the world has changed dramatically in the past six months.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mark Carney along with Premiers from across Canada are working to try to grapple with ever-changing trade negotiations that will have lasting effects on our economic well-being. The goalposts keep moving as an August 1st deadline approaches. It's a sure bet that the US won't agree to a deal that doesn't include tariffs on Canada.

The best way forward is for us to accept that we need to become less dependent on the US and increase our trade and security ties to our European and other global partners.