Some US border guard needs to pull his head out of his a$$ and look around him.

[nestork]

A 52 foot semi-trailer load of fresh water, diapers, food, blankets and other disaster relief destined for Moore, Oklahoma has been stuck at the US/Canadian border since Wednesday night because the US border guards won't let it through.

Apparantly, it can't be let in as humanitarian aid because President Obama hasn't declared Moore, Oklahoma to be a disaster zone.

So, US border guards are treating the shipment as a commercial importation, and they want each of the items on board listed in alphabetical order along with the country of origin. (That is, the country in which each item was manufactured.)

'Canadian relief for Moore tornado victims denied at border - Windsor - CBC News'

I can't see why they can't just put a GPS tracking device on the truck to confirm that it goes to Moore, Oklahoma. Everything there is smashed up, so it's not like the truck is going there to steal anything.

[nestork]

I just hope people come to their senses and let that truck in so that it can deliver that food before it rots.

[nestork]

[image:

SIDEWAYS? WHY FU*KING SIDEWAYS? WHO'S IDEA WAS THAT?

[Robert Macy]

During our extensive automobile tour of the US in the summer of 2001, my wife and I arrived late on a Saturday night approx 1am at Brownsville, TX south of Corpus Christi, TX [I wanted to show her the Rio Grande based upon my memories of the river in the 50's]. We immediately drove to as close as we could get to the river boundary only to find:

1. the river was not there. it appeared to be 'puddles' spread over a valley
2. it was pitch black and solemn on the US side, yet across on the Mexican side appeared to be brightly lit over huge areas with activity and music ]We felt what it must have been like to be in Berlin on the East German side looking towards the west!]

[Jim Elbrecht]

Sorry fellas-- done 10 days ago for the whole state; "The President today declared a major disaster exists in the State of Oklahoma and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area affected by severe storms and tornadoes beginning on May 18, 2013, and continuing. "

Jim

[dennisgauge]

If they let it through, they lose their jobs and end up in jail for smuggling. Rules are rules and they do not get to pick and choose when to follow them.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Rules are rules and they do not get to pick and choose when to follow them.

Sorry, but I have to agree with Dennis on this one. If you were sneaking a bottle of booze, I may let you go. If caught, "sorry boss, I missed it". But delivering a full truckload of goods without proper paperwork would jeopardize my job. Not going to let it happen. Put yourself in the position of the border guard. Ten+ years on the job, good pension down the road, good performance reviews. Would you just wave the truck on?

Not me, unless someone above me gives the OK.

[nestork]

I agree that whomever put that semitrailer full of supplies together should have done his homework more diligently beforehand to find out what was required to get a truck full of food, diapers, water and blankets into a disaster zone.

But, it was a church group that done it, and they always jump in head first before checking the water temperature or depth.

I just don't want to see all that stuff go to waste. And, I'd prefer it went to people that need it, and not be sold off the back of the trailer in some Canadian shopping center parking lot.

We have a well guarded border now, but for the longest time the US/Canada border was the longest unprotected border in the world. And, while there may be international terrorists now that we didn't have before, neither Canadians nor Americans have changed. We wouldn't have put together a bunch of emergency supplies for a tornado ravaged US town if we wanted to do you guys harm. Some times you just have to trust your instincts, and not every gift horse is a Trojan horse.

[Ned Flanders]

smuggling. Rules are rules and they do not get to pick and choose when to follow them.

That's the problem with the border... each border guard is given the power to be a judge and jury. Their decision, be it right or wrong is very hard to get reversed if at all possible.

In my business if the employee can't solve the problem they call a manager who in turn calls H.O. if he/she is unable to solve the problem.

Surly they could call someone who could use common sense and allow the needed aid through, but is too high up the food chain to loose a pension?

[Stormin Mormon]

If they let it through, they lose their jobs and end up in jail for smuggling. Rules are rules and they do not get to pick and choose when to follow them.

[nestork]

There's lots of ways to solve this impass...

If there's any concern that this relief shipment is just a scam to smuggle drugs or guns into the USA, can't they just transfer the contents of the trailer to a few US army trucks and have the US army drive that stuff to Oklahoma and have the US army distribute the food, blankets, diapers and water themselves?

A real smuggler wouldn't want to lose control over the contrents of that trailer, but someone who's just trying to help wouldn't care who takes it down to Oklahoma or who gives what to whom, just so long as the trailer contents go to the people that need those supplies. Why can't something as simple as that be hammered out with a few phone calls to get that stuff moving?

Why can't any one of the dozens (at least) of trucking and moving companies in Detroit load that stuff into one of it's own trucks and take it to a Salvation Army or Red Cross facility in Moore or in nearby Oklahoma City? Surely the cost they incur to do that would be considered a donation and allowed as a tax write-off.

[Kurt Ullman]

This isn't post-9/11. I know from personal experience of at least one truck of goodies destined for a disaster site that was stopped at the border because of lack of paperwork in the mid-80s. I have heard of others. The reasons were more related to food safety then terrorism, but there has long been a bias against letting unvetted food, etc., into the country.