Is there a culture of anti-Canadian, anti-immigrant attitudes among some U.S. Customs and Border Protection members?
According to Bellingham immigration lawyer Greg Boos, there is 鈥� and, he says, it鈥檚 a factor in border inspections, .
In late August, Boos filed a U.S. lawsuit on behalf of business leaders on both sides of the border, seeking to curb an 鈥榚xpedited removal鈥� process that allows CBP members to arbitrarily bar Canadians from entering the U.S. for at least five years.
And he cites a job-forum website, on which apparent current CBP members post under pseudonyms, as indicative of the mindset of some. A comment thread about his case on the website, is posted under the message category 'CBP & DHS in the News' ("").
鈥淵ou can see people who are clearly CBP officers using pseudonyms鈥� and they are definitely anti-immigrant,鈥� Boos told Peace Arch News. 鈥淭hey shouldn鈥檛 be on the job. The one thing I regret is that you can鈥檛 figure out who these people are on chat forums.鈥�
Among postings is one from 鈥楤tacr鈥� referring to one expedited removal: 鈥淣o problem at all鈥� looks like OFO (CBP Office of Field Operations) is .鈥�
鈥楻ob S Pierre鈥� posts: 鈥淐anadians that assert their right to come to the US .鈥�
鈥業NSI鈥� says: 鈥� who thinks they have every right in the world to live here because they are Canadian. In the meantime any US citizen who had a DUI 20 years ago isn鈥檛 allowed into Canada, but they don鈥檛 talk about that鈥�
鈥淥h and I just love the Canadian TN (the NAFTA visa for professionals) applicants while in secondary getting processed just babble on and on about how great Canada is. If Canada is so great why are you moving to the US to work?鈥�
Another posting, by 鈥榟amboy鈥�, says: 鈥淥ur lobbies are full of TN applicants, !鈥�
鈥楪olfquip鈥� posts: 鈥淎ll of this can be solved if we just annex Canada and 鈥︹赌�
A disclaimer on the site鈥檚 home page notes it has 鈥渘o official affiliation with any element of the United States Government鈥� take any opinions and statements with a grain of salt.鈥�
The forum host, listed as Former CBP Guy (MichCI), says in the disclaimer that the site is principally an exchange of information for those seeking work as CBP officers, and that it welcomes posts from CBP members and others.
Contacted by PAN, the host said it would not be prudent for him to comment, as he still works in law enforcement. He did not identify himself.
CBP representatives have repeatedly declined to be interviewed on how individual members apply policy, particularly pertaining to narcotics enforcement 鈥� instead offering a statement that 鈥渢he United States has been and continues to be a welcoming nation鈥� and that regulations are there to protect U.S. citizens, residents and visitors.
But Boos said the website postings indicate attitudes that are far from appropriate for CBP members in charge of handling visa applications 鈥� adding the antipathy of some of these officers evidently extends to border checks seeking admissions of past use of controlled substances.
He agrees last month鈥檚 case of a White Rock woman deemed inadmissible to the U.S. because of admitted previous marijuana use illustrates that the treatment received by Canadians at the border is luck of the draw. Boos said that although some CBP members appear in favour of facilitating international trade, others appear to consider it their job to turn people away.
And while Washington State residents recently approved an initiative legalizing marijuana on a state level, Canadian visitors shouldn鈥檛 be lulled into the belief that such liberalization of laws applies to them, Boos said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 still illegal at the federal level,鈥� he noted.
Although U.S. federal authorities have indicated they will take a passive approach to state-legalized marijuana use by Washington residents, he said, any admission by a Canadian that he or she has smoked marijuana constitutes an admission of being a lawbreaker in Canada; sufficient grounds for CBP members to declare a visitor 鈥渋nadmissible.鈥�
Boos said Canadians should also be aware that, outside of a conviction or their own admission, the burden of proof that someone has committed a crime under Canadian law falls upon the authorities.
鈥淚鈥檓 not telling anyone to lie,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut if I were asked at the border if I had smoked something in the past, my answer would be no.
鈥淚鈥檓 not a botanist. I haven鈥檛 run chemical tests. I wouldn鈥檛 know that anything I smoked was marijuana. Do you know for a fact that what you smoked was marijuana or oregano, or what it was?鈥�
Brent De Young, a Canadian who works as an immigration lawyer in Washington State, is another who believes that CBP members are not administering the rules consistently.
鈥淟aws that aren鈥檛 uniformly administered tend to be used offensively whenever they do happen to be applied,鈥� he said.
