More Cdns turned away at border, looking for waivers: lawyer

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A warning from an American immigration lawyer: there’s now a better chance your long-forgotten past could come back to bite you at the border.

Imagine going on vacation with your family and being turned away at the border because you were caught with a joint in the 70s. That’s happening to more Canadians than ever, according to Len Saunders with the Immigration Law Firm in Blaine.

He says his waiver business has more than doubled over the last year. Saunders tells us being denied at the border is coming as a complete shock to most people affected. “Someone who is convicted, let’s say in the 70s or 80s, who has crossed the border hundreds of times… never had any issues and all of a sudden, an old conviction pops up on the record.”

He feels this is happening more often these days because older databases are being put online, giving border officers access to more information. “I think these old offences are somehow being integrated into the databases, both in Canada and the US, and they’re able to look into people’s backgrounds more thoroughly.”

If you’ve been convicted of a crime at any point in your life, Saunders recommends looking into a waiver now in order to avoid the disappointment of being turned away.

US Customs says nothing’s changed. Chief Thomas Schreiber with US Customs and Border Protection tells us it may be that more Canadians are being referred for secondary inspections.

“We have a primary screening process where we ask several questions and based on the totality of the circumstances, the officer can release the individual into the United States or if there’s (sic) some questions, he may refer them for a closer inspection. It’s at that time when the closer inspection is conducted that issues of criminality and inadmissibility are detected.”

Schreiber adds getting a pardon won’t help you; a crime committed at any time can still get you turned away.