[jrochkind1]

> As late as the 2001 I could cross into the US from Canada with as little as my birth certificate,

Growing up in Detroit in the 80s (which some people don't realize is right on the border with Canada -- and that you travel south across a bridge to get to Canada! look it up) -- we generally didn't even bring our birth certificate. which may be a testament to our social class -- they could ask for a birth certificate if they thought you seemed "suspicious" (which i'm sure is racially coded), but for 90%+ of crossings, and 100% of our crossings, it was a two question interview without showing any paperwork at all. "What is your citizenship? What is your purpose of travel? OK, go through." No showing of ID at all -- not even a driver's license!

[And again, they could ask for ID -- a driver's license or birth certificate -- if they wanted. I am positive at least 9 out of 10 crossings they did not. I am indeed sure that the race and class appearance (and accent) of the crosser was significant].

We used to patriotically brag (in the time of the cold war and berlin wall) that this was how borders between two stable "free" countries, the US and Canada, could be, "the longest open border in the world".

It makes me really sad to think about how much we have gotten used to living in a security state, that does not need to be that way.

[jrochkind1]

(I'm realizing in my memory that not only did you show no paperwork, for the majority of crossings for people they did not deem "suspicious", you didn't even provide your name at all. I guess they could have been recording your license plate, not sure if they were, but there was no record left of the individual people crossing).