It's just a fucking imaginary dotted line for Christ's sake!

Click here for larger, more clear / Cliquez ici pour plus grande, plus claire

Okay, Watch This Space for further developments as the Bush Administration of the USA turns the world's longest peaceful, friendly international border into a North American version of Israel's West Bank Barrier or tries to bring back The Berlin Wall.

Or, in the words of the Canadian chanteusse Joni Mitchell:

They paved Paradise
Put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved Paradise
And put up a parking lot.

They took all the trees
And put them in a tree museum
And they charged all the people
A dollar and a half just to see 'em

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved Paradise
And put up a parking lot.

Hey farmer farmer
Put away that D.D.T. now
Give me Spots on my apples
But leave me the birds and the bees
Please!

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved Paradise
And put up a parking lot.

Late last night
I heard the Screen door slam
And a big yellow taxi
Took away my old man

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot.

("Big Yellow Taxi"
Copyright c 1969 Siquomb Publishing Co. BMI)

btw a Snowbird is a Canadian who travels out of Canada for warmer climes during the winter -- very typically, spending the winter in Florida. There are a metric shitload of these, particularly retirees.

====================

The Montreal Gazette (Quebec Canada)
Monday 26 December 2005

NGO Vleeptron sez:
Send a letter to The Gazette
telling them you think
this blows dead rats:
letters@thegazette.canwest.com

No more rubber-stamping
at U.S. Border

by Michelle Lalonde, The Gazette

There was a time when a car full of Canadians would barely have to slow down at the customs booth while crossing the border into the United States.

"Citizenship?" the border guard would yell into the car.

"Canadian," we'd answer one by one, as the guard fixed us each by turn with a bored gaze. Two or three more cursory questions and off we'd drive. No papers requested, no car search, no hassle.

Of course, the border-crossing routine changed radically after the terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001. But more recently, U.S.-Canada relations have soured over trade disputes, well-publicized insults, policy criticism and veiled threats that would have been unheard of only a few years ago. There has even been talk in the United States lately of building a wall along the Canada-U.S. border.

And at the same time, anecdotes are surfacing about Canadians being turned back at the border for what seem like frivolous reasons. In some cases, decades-old indiscretions or slightly questionable cargo have served as sufficient reason to turn Canadian travellers back.

Last month, Bob and Diana Hawley of Kenora, Ont., were refused entry at a border crossing at International Falls in Minnesota because they had a tool box in their car.

The Hawleys, snowbirds in their early 70s, were heading to join a group of friends at their Florida condo, as they do every winter. The tool box they had, a small yellow item with normal household tools inside, is the same one they have always brought along in case of car trouble and to do any repairs necessary at their winter home.

Border officials decided the tool box was evidence that Bob Hawley, who wears a knee brace and has trouble walking, was intending to do construction work in the United States.

Also last month, a pair of Quebecers who now live in British Columbia were jailed for more than a week after they tried to cross into Washington state. The two, a middle-age mother and her adult daughter, were turned back because the mother had a 30-year-old conviction for marijuana possession on her record. Then as they were driving back home, the two say, they took a wrong exit from the highway and accidentally ended up in the United States again. They were arrested and spent more than a week in a special Washington prison for suspected Homeland Security breachers.

But U.S. border officials categorically deny that there is any kind of new crackdown on Canadian travellers to the United States.

"Thousands of Canadians cross our northern border every day, and I can tell you there is definitely no situation or new policy whereby we are scrutinizing Canadians more than anybody else," said Ted Woo, chief of public affairs with U.S. Customs and Border Protection field office in Boston.

Michael MacKenzie, spokesperson for the Canadian Snowbird Association, said his members have certainly noticed tighter security and resulting slowdowns in crossing the border since the terrorist attacks in the United States. But he said he is not aware of any new complaints of snowbirds being denied entry for frivolous reasons.

"What we hear about typically is that security is a lot more of a concern and people are being turned away if they don't have all their documents. You used to just be able to show your driver's licence and be on your way. Now you have to bring your passport and airline tickets, and a one-way ticket is not good enough. They want to see return tickets, hotel accommodations, wedding invitations."

Montreal lawyer Michael Stober says Canadian travellers need to be aware that they don't automatically have a right to enter the United States.

"Going into the United States or any foreign country is not your right. It is a very discretionary thing," he said.

And if you are charged with or convicted of a crime in Canada, he notes, you might want to consider staying at home, at least until your record is cleared.

"I tell my clients, if you are charged today with a criminal offence, do not try to step foot into the United States until it's over," he said.

It is possible to have charges removed from police records in Canada with the help of a lawyer if you are acquitted of a criminal charge or convicted but eventually pardoned.

But if you try to cross the border before your Canadian record has been cleared, the border guards might flag your name.

"They might send you back or they might let you in, but they will have that information in their computers forever ... I tell people -- especially young people - with minor convictions, not to go to the United States until they are acquitted or pardoned, and their record is cleared. What if you decide to move to the U.S. later, or you marry a U.S. citizen and you apply for a green card and this pops up? You could be refused entry just because you wanted to go shopping in Plattsburgh."

Bill Anthony, a spokesperson for the Custom and Border Protection agency in Washington, D.C., agrees that a police record will probably cause trouble at the border.

"Our ability to gather information from law enforcement agencies is so good now that I would advise anybody who has a legal problem of any kind to make sure they fix it before they come" to the United States, he said.

But he added once someone has served their sentence, they are usually admitted unless there are other circumstances that raise doubts.

"Normally, when somebody has satisfied their obligation, they are treated like other citizens, so a simple marijuana (possession) arrest 20 years ago should not be reason enough to keep someone out of the country," he said.

But he noted a border agent has to assess a number of factors and make a judgment call about the intentions of the traveller.

He said Canadians should be sure to bring passports and any documentation that backs up the stated reasons for their visit, including conference documents or accommodation arrangements. But he stressed there is no crackdown on Canadian travellers.

"The only reason we might tighten things up at the (Canada-U.S.) border is if there was some kind of specific terrorist threat. We are certainly not trying to keep snowbirds out of our country."

[sidebar]

REASONS
YOU CAN BE
KEPT OUT OF THE U.S.

You are likely to be denied entry into the United States if:

You have been found guilty of crimes of moral turpitude (child molestation, rape, fraud, theft, etc.).

You have been found guilty of a major criminal offence (murder, grand theft, etc.).

You have overstayed a previous visit to the U.S.

You are suspected of having an infectious disease.

You have a physical or mental disorder and the behaviour associated with the disorder poses a threat.

You are known or suspected by U.S. authorities to be a drug abuser or addict.

You have been convicted of a crime related to a controlled substance.

You cannot prove you have sufficient funds to support yourself while in the U.S.

You have been denied entry into the U.S. in the past.

You have multiple criminal convictions (other than purely political offences) and have been sentenced to more than five years in prison.

Exceptions: If you were under 18 years of age when you committed the crime, and your sentence was served more than five years before your attempt to enter the United States, you will usually be admitted.

If you were convicted of a crime and the maximum possible penalty for that crime did not exceed imprisonment for one year, and if your actual sentence was less than six months, you will usually be admitted.

Recourse:

If you have been denied entry into the United States for a reason you believe should not apply or should no longer apply, you can explain the situation in a written letter to:

Customs and Border Protection FOIA/CSU
Room 5.5C
1300 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20229
USA

or contact the U.S. embassy to request a waiver.

For more information, visit www.cbp.gov online.