Thread: U.S. border rejects thousands of Canadians with criminal rec

Sunday » August 19 » 2007

U.S. border rejects thousands of Canadians with criminal records

Mike De Souza
CanWest News Service


Sunday, August 19, 2007



CREDIT: CanWest News Service
U.S. customs officials are downplaying recent complaints that they are getting tough with Canadians at the border.

U.S. customs officials are downplaying recent complaints that they are getting tough with Canadians at the border and, in many cases, turning away those with criminal records.

Some Canadian immigration lawyers and businesses say they are seeing a higher volume of calls from people who were hassled and rejected at the border even though they have obtained pardons for their crime. But, U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman Kelly Klundt said the agents are following the law which requires would-be visitors with previous convictions to obtain a waiver that costs $545 US and takes up to a year to process.

"Just because Canada has (issued) a pardon, and individuals can receive a pardon, that doesn't mean that in our eyes, and for our law enforcement purposes, their record is completely cleared," said Klundt in a phone interview. "You might be cleared of your Canadian record for Canadian law enforcement purposes but for U.S. entry purposes it really is irrelevant."

Patrice Brunet, a Montreal immigration lawyer, said the Harper government should insist that U.S. border agents show more flexibility and judgment about Canadians with petty or distant convictions since Canada's border officials already do this for American visitors.

"We treat them fairly," said Brunet, who estimates a 20 per cent increase in calls to his office from clients who were turned away at the U.S. border in the last year. "We treat them in a way where we're looking behind the record and we're talking to the person, and we're trusting our immigration officers to make the right decision."

He said many of his clients are now afraid to go to the U.S. to avoid the humiliation of being turned away for a petty crime that was committed decades ago.

"When these people consult me, I can't answer them (with certainty) whether or not they will enter into the United States and that's the trouble," he said.

Despite the complaints, Klundt said the number of Canadians turned away at the border has remained steady at about 42,000 for 2005 and 2006. In the current 2007 fiscal year, which runs until the end of September, 28,032 have been turned away.

But she admits there could be a slight increase in the number of waivers issued since 3,416 people have already received them in the first nine months of the fiscal year, versus 3,731 in 2006. She suggested better information sharing with the Canadian government about law enforcement records might explain the increases, although it doesn't mean the U.S. wants to shut down its borders.

"We welcome a million people a day into the country," she said. "We have 79 northern border points of entry. There are hundreds of thousands of legitimate travellers and members of the trade that come through our borders every day, and we want to encourage that."

Last week, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said he would look into the matter, but in the meantime, he's urging people not to try to fool U.S. border officers about previous convictions.

"Their training and instincts seem to go off like Sonar when somebody tries to deke them out," Day wrote in a weekly column, published for constituents in his interior British Columbia riding. "Life for you will become very stressed if you are caught in the act of, ahem, 'fibbing' at the border."

Day added that the best solution for Canadians is to avoid breaking laws.

"Even a so-called minor conviction (and I don't think driving under the influence is minor) could mean you will be barred from getting into the U.S.," he wrote. "That may not be a big deal for you but if it means your kids don't get to go to Disneyland it could be a sore point with them."

A spokesperson for Day said the minister later raised the issue with Michael Chertoff, the U.S. secretary of homeland security, but that discussions are still ongoing.

© CanWest News Service 2007








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