Thread: Ontario boater baffled by lengthy U.S. internment

Ontario boater baffled by lengthy U.S. internment
Trevor Wilhelm, CanWest News Service
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news ... cc&k=15599
Published: Monday, August 27, 2007

WINDSOR, Ont. -- The man from Woodstock, Ont., who spent weeks languishing in a U.S. immigration jail after refusing to boat back to Canada because he had been drinking, was back in this country Monday, minus his identification, credit cards, $400 in cash and his clothes.

Terry DaCosta, 39, had been in a Michigan jail since Aug. 3, despite committing no criminal offence.

He appeared at the Windsor tunnel's immigration office Monday, in a T-shirt, rolled-up blue jeans and shoes from the Monroe County Jail's lost-and-found box. The jail had lost his effects.

During his ordeal, DaCosta said he endured cramped quarters, grumpy guards, a broken toilet and the company of dozens of others detained for long periods for similarly unclear reasons.

He said the U.S. border patrol jailed him after he was denied access to the country, and he was unable to boat back to Canada because he'd been drinking.

DaCosta and some friends, who drove their own pleasure boats, left Leamington, Ont. on Lake Erie and docked at Put-in-Bay near Sandusky, Ohio, on Aug. 3. While tying off the boats and waiting for entry approval -- which he'd been granted several times previously, including two weeks prior -- DaCosta had a few beers.

Then the border patrol said they were denying him entry. He still doesn't know why.

Since DaCosta had been drinking, he and his friends had dinner to decide what to do. While they were thinking about the dilemma, border guards returned.

DaCosta opted to be detained instead of risking the loss of his licence, his boat and jail time if he were caught boating under the influence.

DaCosta said he ended up in a jail cell and was given the choice of checking one of three boxes on a form. The first was to claim he feared for his life in his own country. The second was a request to see a judge, something he was told could take a month.

So he checked the third box. In exchange for promising not to return to the U.S. for 10 years, the border patrol said they could have him back to Canada in a day or two.

The next morning he was sent to the Monroe jail, where he got some bad news.

"I said how long do have I to wait here before you send me to the border," said DaCosta. "He said, 'buddy, you're here for a long haul.' But I said I checked off automatic deportation if I don't come back for 10 years. He said: 'They say that to everybody.'"

After that he was put in a cell the size of a one-car garage, where he spent nine days. There were 15 people and one leaky toilet. The more people used it, the worse the smell got, DaCosta said, but the inmates' request to get it fixed went unanswered.

"It kept on stinking worse and worse every day," said DaCosta.

Finally, the jail gave them a mop and allowed them to clean up the mess, he said. Shortly after, he was moved to a large room called the Dorm, where he was corralled with about 100 others. He said there were people there from Africa, Lebanon, China and Iran, many with proper paperwork.

Greg Palmore, spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, couldn't be reached Monday to comment on DaCosta's lengthy incarceration.


Tamara French, DaCosta's legal representative in the U.S., was on vacation and didn't return phone calls Monday. James Battin, his Canadian lawyer, also didn't return calls.


DaCosta said he was allowed out to a fenced-in area once a day, if the officer in charge felt like it. When one particular guard was on duty, DaCosta said, she forced the inmates to lie on their beds the whole day.

Some guards were nicer than others, he said.

"Some of them acted like they were in a war," said DaCosta.

U.S. authorities finally released him around 12:30 p.m. Monday. He's not sure what prompted his release.

But when they released him, he said, they said they'd lost his cash, credit cards, trade licences, boat licence, keys, business cards, shoes and clothes.

The only thing they didn't lose was the document stating he couldn't return to the U.S. for 10 years, he said.

Windsor Star

If he would've been from south of the border, he would've been released right away.

This is stupid. Our politicians claim that we can't arrest illegals due to lack of jail space yet we're locking up Canadian boaters for no reason.

He should be given an apology and be allowed to re-enter the U.S