U.S. Customs and Border Protection - Highgate Springs Port of Entry in
Swanton Township (VT)

We traveled from Boston to Montreal and back last weekend and had no issues with Customs & Border Service Officers. They were polite, thorough with standard procedural questions, and traffic wasn’t delayed. If I lived closer to the border, I’d visit Montreal more often.

My experience with the officers was deeply unpleasant. I felt I was treated with unnecessary hostility and bias because of my Pakistani background and my name. The officer’s behavior was aggressive and made me feel unsafe. Encounters like this make it harder to trust the fairness of U.S. border services. I hope the department reflects on how to treat all travelers with basic respect.

We are green card holders long traveling to pick up items from auction galleries. My mother and me back to US from Canada thru this place on September 21st late night. A young officer thought himself got some big Asian fishes. Treat me as a criminal, he was very excited searched the vehicle nearly an hour and even personal underwear cloth. He was very rude and lack of manners. Claimed himself work here four years but he still asked many stupid and strange questions, like how do you meet your mom, why you don’t have gums for a long traveling, why do you have no bag, why do you have no toilet in your car, why you don’t have a hotel booking (you didn’t let me thru the border and want to waste my money? And there is no phone internet service. ) How do you get money to support this travel, Etc. Finally he got nothing illegal and sorry to let you down. I know he was upset to lose his step stone for promotion. And we got some antiques from Canada. He even threatened to give me handcuffs if I don’t back to Canada immediately. He destroyed my night and business travel plan. Waste me three more days and much money. He even called other CBP ms to not let us in. What a human!

I drove by this morning, and the customs officers put my car in the garage without letting me see what was going on for 30 minutes. They caused a lot of damage to my car and poured the bottle of oil I had in it onto the carpet in the boot.

What can you expect from a country designed to look at anyone who isn’t “white” regardless if citizen or not like they don’t belong in the country? Stopped me out of 20 vehicles( I was the only one stopped). I asked if everyone gets searched? to what they replied “ if we searched everyone, we would be here all day. So my question to that was “ So I just got picked” and they said “Yes, you got picked while laughing about it”. Racially motivated and Bias stop of course. Will be escalating this complaint. Everyone should be treated with fairness and not singled out because that seems like the norm at these locations and we just let them happen. Not me, I’m as American as anyone else and won’t tolerate this.

I’ve crossed this border probably 30 times and have never had a bad experience. You’ll encounter all types of officers; grumpy, friendly, straight to the point, the two question asker vs the interrogator. It’s customs, the officers aren’t all going to be jumping with joy to talk to you, it’s literally their job to protect the border. Be friendly, answer their questions, and you’ll be on your way with no issues!

We had a terrible experience at the US border VT . A lady officer directed us to secondary screening for updated photos but treated us like criminals just because I forgot to tell the exact amount of usd cash(about couple of hundred). She went through my purse, made a huge mess, and even tore an envelope with important documents inside. We waited over three hours with no updates, ruining our plans for an event in Boston. At the end, she muttered to a colleague, "Spent so much time but didn't find anything useful." This was disrespectful and unprofessional. The entire experience was humiliating and frustrating. I hope authorities address this behavior to ensure travelers are treated with respect.

We were treated kindly and respectfully by the border agent. I see lots of negative comments here about race, that wasn't our experience at all. Our agent (a female) asked us the typical questions, inquired about our trip, and was professional and friendly throughout.

Rude, abusive, and sadistic border agents. Avoid this border crossing into the US at all costs! We had to wait over 30 minutes for the 6 or 7 vehicles in front to pass, because apparently some new agent was being trained, and they opened every trunk and poked around. When it's our turn, they pulled us to the parking area, took our car key and passports, Then they sent out 3 agents to go rummage through everything in our truck. Eventually they found some minor discrepancy in the declaration form they had us fill out (we brought some items from our home in the US to the vacation in Canada, which were intended to be carried back to the US for a New Year's party. They claimed that we didn't declare these things we didn't buy in Canada). Eventually after holding us up for another 30 minutes, they calculated we had to pay custom duty of just $15. $15! For making us super late for our party and subject to abuse and humiliation.

Single traveller travelling by bus. Not a Canadian or American citizen. First time traveling to the US, my biggest fear was what if I get held up for questioning and my greyhound bus leaves me behind. The experience was a pleasant revelation. As we entered the area designated for buses, we were told to pick up all our handbags (bigger bags stay in the hold) and line up inside a small room. There were four officers for processing - one stern, two neutral, and one lady who seemed the friendliest of the group. All non US and non Canadians were asked to raise their hands and were processed first. The room is small so everyone can hear the questions and your answers. I was asked: - anything to declare? - where are you going? - for what? - how long? - have a return ticket? - what do you do? As I answered these, the friendly lady inspected my bag. I was done in 2 mins. It helped to have the exact plan and prints ready, especially the return ticket. I was out and back in the bus in maybe 10 mins. I see a lot of reviewers who had bitter experiences with some pointing to racism as well. I probably got lucky because I didn't see anything on display here. That one stern officer was cold though and did most of the checking, and the 3-4 people who had to speak to him would definitely have a different opinion of the experience. Also the three individuas I saw getting grilled were all non-minority, so the racist stereotype attributed may not entirely be true. A poor lady's bags were turned inside out and another one was detained and did not make it back on the bus. Tips for a smooth experience if you're crossing by bus - Sit in front so you're first in line. - Have all your papers ready, esp the exact address of the place you're going to - Declare if you have any thing they mention in their announcements..Someone made the mistake of not declaring because they thought it was for goods "over a limit". You declare everything, period. - Our definition of rude may just be "talk business" to some. Cultural differences can also have an impact. Don't indulge in pleasantries with officers. Be crisp and detailed in your responses. Remember there is no privacy here. You're all standing in a small room as this process happens. It can be nerve wracking for some. I saw a tourist literally shaking. My experience was good here but I may have just been lucky. Just make sure to to prepare well and hope for the best!

Rude, disrespectful, abusive border security guards (US immigrations/customs staff). Deliberately slow. Literally waited 30mins to process 8 cars because “training” a new officer. They seem to take pleasure in being as rude as they can and unnecessarily wasting law-abiding citizens time. An unpleasant “(un)Welcome to the United States.”

All the complaints about race here are true. You will have a good time crossing the border without a lot of questions and heavy ridiculous inspection if you inherit a light skin phenotype or you are a cheese-head person. You're inspection officers. You're not car electrical wire technicians. You almost popped and pulled everything off and out from my car for just a small unknown light unit that I don't recognize in my car. You messed up all my belongings. You don't tell me you did that because I can't tell what that unit is. Your action was just ridiculous and racially biased. I'm so jealous of those girls with the specific genotype. They didn't go through that heavy inspection and was able to take off with a joy and smiling face. Use better inspection procedures to handle this to secure your soil. You are first-world offsprings. What you guys did did not gain our respect. It's disgusting under the picture of law enforcement. You don't want third-world offsprings like us to devalue and look down on you. Also not everybody wants to set foot in your country (Canada).

Really hated that we had to waste 45 minutes because they wanted a specific address, and to add insult to injury the officer was not approachable, it felt like we were bothering him if we were not certain of something. I politely asked if this was a random check, the rude officer was bad at hiding it because he seemed bothered by the question and gave me the generic "anyone crossing our borders is subject to search." It almost felt like it was because my friend is from a culture that could easily be racially profiled, and yes almost everyone in the waiting room was from a visible ethnicity. We are Canadian tourists, not terrorists, but I guess it is that culture some law enforcement or even military officers in the US have "shoot first ask questions later." In the meantime an innocent person is either seriously injured or dead, that definitely makes me think even more now before planning to visit a city there from now on

My wife is asian and I'm latino. We were concerned about this border point of entry and the comments writen here telling about how racist the border patrol are. We were ready for detention, having our 2 kids in the back hoping for not seeing daddy and mommy beeing deported back in a shameful way to Canada while they both would be adopted by bears in Vermont. Since my wife is traveling under a Visa for USA, we were PULLED OVER!!! OMG HOW CAN IT BE?? Well... It's not a customer service point. It's an entry point, they're border patrol, they do what they have to do, it's their dutie. In a nutshells : - The border patrol in the booth, super friendly, straight to the point and very helpful. - My wife had to get her fingerprint and picture done since she's traveleling under a Visa. Normal process. - Yes, indeed inside the office place they're unfriendly. You ask a question and they barely answer you. They're doing what they have to do , it's their job. At the end, who cares? I didn't planned asking them for having a beer afterwards. All in all? Good !

It was a great experience crossing in Vermont . The officer at the commercial window was joking around but did his job.. it was nice to talk to the officer and explain the cargo I was hauling. To all the officers at this crossing awesome job .

I have been living in VT since 2015. I usually take this crossing to go to Montreal. Lines used to be insanely long and busy. Now the crossing is a bit shorter and easier. The agents are kind and helpful and crossing doesn’t take much time.

My boyfriend & I (both American) were pulled over for additional questioning. Initially we assumed it was a random screening but as we walked into the lobby we witnessed a room full of minorities in the waiting area while almost all of the officers were middle-aged Caucasian men. After asking my boyfriend generic questions about our relationship (???) they gave us back our passports and let us go w/ no explanation. We stayed calm because we had nothing to be concerned about but the experience certainly felt like racial profiling.

I cant believe the way the woman spoke to me today. I am a police graduate and would never speak to someone the way she spoke to me today (@1300hrs). Despicable attitude. Completely unnecessary, unprovoked & unprofessional. I will add I came back through a few hours later and dealt with a male who was professional, courteous & friendly. Should anyone investigate this complaint I was driving a Chrysler 300 @1300hrs. I wish I had filmed the encounter. I definitely will the next time. Should she be as rude as today, you can expect it to be online.

We have foreign names, not red or blue passport, we just wanted to flagpole to canadian immigration applications. A white bald tall guy, probably the chief officer, walked over to the thing where they keep the passports with the order they received (aka according to the time we arrived), he checks each passport for 0.5 seconds, i assume he’s checking the color cuz he was not reading any notes that was stored with the passport, and kept putting ours to the back of the pile. And he kept doing this every 10-20min or so. The ones who came after us left soon while we waited for 2hours. I have no idea how to think of this other than racist.

Left the country for less than 48 hours with a school group and am now on my second hour waiting on a friend who got stopped for no reason. Edit: ended up waiting 3 hours on the friend who was sitting in a room alone for most of the time. The only interactions he had were a short questioning and being asked to look through his phone. Tip for those stuck in the same situation: keep calling the office and asking why they are being held keeping them on the phone as long as possible. I'm assuming it ruined whatever enjoyment they got from holding our friend so they let him go.

5 stars only if you take the right lane (no.3) today.

I had the most amazing experience on my trip to Burlington, Vermont. My bag was poorly packed and my belongings scattered in the back seat of my car. After I was asked to pull my car over and I was searched I returned to find my things neatly packed away in my car and my jacket and t-shirt that was on a hanger was hooked on to the back of my chair. It was the most thoughtful and kind experience ever!!! I don’t know the name of the female officer who searched my vehicle but you’re a gem. (You know who you are!!!) Thank you for this beautiful and unexpected gesture of kindness ?

Horrible officers at this location. So rude and arrogant. It makes me hate the USA. I was travelling by bus from Montreal to Boston. When we arrived here, they told me and 4 others that they could not issue our visas due to an issue in THEIR system. We were the only ones nor american nor canadian. They basically just said: the system is not working, you can go back to Canada or wait her for the next bus to come in 9 hours. That's it. I had no other options than waiting there. We were literally sleeping on the floor in front of them while they were having donuts and coffee and did not care about us at all. I asked to use wifi, not possible, to make a call, not possible, to write a sign with boston on it in order to get a lift, not possible. They did not feel sorry at all for the fact that we were stuck there due to THEIR ISSUE. Nope, they did not care, they just said: if you don't want to wait, we can give you the taxi number, up to you. Yes, dude, sure, a taxi from Vermont to Boston. This was my first impression of the ''great'' United States of America. You got the president that you deserve!!!

We arrived at a very busy time in the summer so waited a very long time and entered the main building to get processed. Although nervous, the personnel did their job and were always civil if not friendly, when entering US. When exiting was simply a drive up and drive through with no issues and courtesy to offer condolences for my reason of travel.

The officers at this location are racist, rude and discriminatory. I was heading back home with a group of friends from vacation in Canada, and after an hour of being in traffic we were asked to go inside and our passports will be there. They made us wait another hour while they did nothing. When they called us over, they asked random questions and then handed us back our papers. We asked why we were asked to come inside and they replied with "random inspection" but they didn't inspect anything. They didn't search the car or us or ask what we where carrying. We all had foreign names and we asked if that's the reason and he didn't reply to our question just looked at us with a little regret.

Every member of the Customs and Border Service who I have had the pleasure of interacting with at this stop is incredibly courteous and pleasant to deal with. They obviously take their job seriously and try to move you along in an orderly fashion. My only suggestion is, be prepared to wait in line for a while; in all of my experiences at this crossing I have waited between 20-30 minutes.

It may be little slow depending on the day and time. Other than that it is standard procedure as usual. There is a duty free about 300 yards before going through. I did not observe any public facilities at the border station, so if you need to make use of them do so at the duty free shop.