Canadian travel to the U.S. has plummeted. One reason why: fear

When political science professor Arash Abizadeh heard last month about foreign travellers being detained at the U.S. border, he cancelled plans to speak at an upcoming academic conference in Durham, N.C.

He believes heightened scrutiny at the U.S. border makes travel to the country too uncertain. 

"Why would we subject ourselves to this?" asked Abizadeh, who teaches at McGill University in Montreal. 

"We can say to ourselves, 'Well, I haven't done anything wrong,' but then you have to ask yourself questions like … 'Have I said anything on social media that the current regime might find critical of them?' "

Abizadeh joins a growing number of Canadians cancelling plans to visit the United States.

The number of return trips among Canadians travelling to the U.S. in February plummeted compared to the previous year: down by 13 per cent for air travel, and a whopping 23 per cent for land travel. March data, which Statistics Canada will release later this morning, is expected to show a further decline.

One reason for the drop in travel is anger over U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war. Another reason gaining ground: concern over beefed up border security following Trump's pledge to crack down on immigration. 

Recent reports of foreigners being detained for longer than a week, including two German tourists, a backpacker from Wales and Canadian Jasmine Mooney, have created a chill among many Canadians who used to travel to the U.S. without hesitation. 

Mooney was detained for 11 days last month after she tried to enter the U.S., and her work visa application was denied at the U.S.-Mexico border.

"I got put into real jail. So it's just like the movies, two levels, cells on each side," she said in an interview with CBC News last week. "I didn't leave my cell for, I think, 24 hours, to be honest. I was so distraught."

U.S. immigration lawyer, Len Saunders, counselled Mooney about her case. He says that, in previous administrations, when travellers' visa applications didn't meet the bar, they would typically be sent back to their home country. 

"You would never have seen them in custody, especially more than maybe a day," said Saunders, whose office in Blaine, Wash., is close to the Canadian border.

"There seems to be absolutely no discretion," he said. "It's almost like the pendulum has gone 180 degrees from low enforcement to just maximum enforcement."

When asked about the recent detainments, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) replied in an email that the Trump administration is cracking down on people who try to enter the U.S. under fraudulent pretenses or with malicious intent.