Thread: Canada steps up criminal background checks at border

Canada steps up criminal background checks at border
You know that busybody neighbor who knows everybody's secrets and has no tolerance for anyone imperfect?
Yes, that neighbor -- Canada.
Posted by Jim Nichols
Categories: Breaking News, Crime

http://blog.cleveland.com
If you're considering a holiday visit to Niagara Falls or a Windsor casino, be advised: Canada doesn't want your company if you've ever gotten busted shoplifting, holding a joint or driving drunk.

And don't think Canada doesn't know.

Agreements struck in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks have opened the border to a much freer flow of criminal-background information between Canadian and U.S. law enforcement. Now, police at the international border can access the same records available to cops at the Lakewood-Rocky River border -- including that years-old DUI.


Consequently, Canadian agents at airports, bridges and other crossings are routinely turning away Yanks for some offenses considered minor or ancient back home.

The Canadians and their American counterparts are using digital equipment that let them access criminal history through items such as license plates, passports and driver's licenses.

And the checks are not restricted to drivers. So if you're heading for the border with this kind of blemish, you might as well scrap your travel plans, even if you sailed through without a hitch just a few years ago.

"You're not getting in," says Cleveland immigration attorney David Leopold.

Heather Segal, a Canadian attorney who also specializes in immigration, said her Toronto office has been handling dozens of cases for "freaked-out" Americans stuck at the border. She said the number of cases has spiked in the last year.

"People are being surprised by it," Segal said. "Technology is catching up to people's history.

It's not that Canada has suddenly revised its stance toward visitors. It, like the U.S. and most other nations, has long barred people convicted of serious crimes. Canada considers drunk driving to be "extremely serious," as its consulate's Web site notes. And it rejects visitors with convictions for shoplifting, theft, unauthorized gun possession -- and even dangerous driving.

Derek Mellon, a spokesman for the Canadian Border Security Agency, is unapologetic.

"Our regulations haven't changed and our message is the same: There are rules in place, and each person has to prove they're admissible."

Mellon said his agency's statistics don't show a recent surge in travelers being turned away, but he declined to share figures.

Border guards have discretion to let besmirched travelers through for short stays, Mellon and the attorneys said. But Segal warned against betting on it.

"The last thing you need at Christmastime," the Toronto lawyer said, "is to have the kids and the presents all packed into the car, and then you arrive at the border and -- oops! That old skeleton pops out of the closet. And there goes Christmas."

At least they are getting tough at the border. A little extreme in my opinion, but at least they are doing something. What are we doing? Nothing.