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Denied entry to USA for being Muslim?

The Peace bridge border crossing where 4 men were denied entry to the US
Another recent article this time by CBC highlights the continued difficulties many people endure when travelling to the US from Canada. Four men of Turkish decent (3 of them Canadian citizens) were held and questioned for 6 hours at the Peace Bridge border crossing in Fort Erie before being refused entry to the US.

Two of the men work full-time, one owns a business and one is a student. All of the men are well educated and they all own homes in Toronto. So why were they denied entry?

According to Guidy Mamann, an immigration lawyer quoted in the article, racial profiling at the border is not new: "The idea that immigration officers don't racially profile is nonsense," he said. "No matter how unsettling or intimidating, that type of questioning is perfectly legal."

During the questioning the men held in separate rooms were asked about the war in Syria, fingerprinted and photographed. Ultimately the men say they were told the officers didn't believe their ties to Canada were strong enough that they would return. The official reason?

Tourist visitors must be able to demonstrate that they have significant ties to their resident country (see: denied entry to the US).

So what's the takeaway? The article suggests that racial profiling does occur at the border crossings (and it probably does), but it begs the question if the individuals had been properly armed with paperwork documenting their employment status, property ownership and other ties to Canada, if this confrontation would have happened in the first place. It's a lesson for everyone that we should always have sufficient evidence at hand when crossing into the US.

Source: Does racial profiling exist at the Canada-U.S. border?


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Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 21, 2014 at 11:46 AM

    Is this about racial or religious profiling? The article suggests they were refused because of their skin colour. As your blog post title points out - seems to be more about religious profiling. Either way, I agree about your main point: The burden of proof remains with the US visa applicant that they are not entering the US illegally.

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  2. denied entry to usaNovember 25, 2014 at 3:53 PM

    To suggest that any border crossing doesn't profile people is ignorant. The very nature of assessing security threats at the border involves profiling. It affects every demographic differently. For example: young white males driving from BC to Washington are often profiled as potential marijuana tourists, especially if they have long hair or dress a certain way. The best thing to do is to bring plenty of paperwork with you, after all the onus is always on the applicant to prove they are admissible.

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