Your documents please
James Bissett
National Post
Thursday, February 06, 2003
North Americans travelling for the first time in European countries are often puzzled when asked to check their passports at the hotel desk. They are accustomed to the easygoing freedom of movement and travel in Canada and the United States. They are not used to the idea of identity papers, keeping track of foreign visitors, or exit controls. Such practices recall scenes from old Second World War movies where security police at railway stations or in trains menacingly ask the anxious traveller: "Your documents please." Well, Canadians travelling to the United States will soon be getting used to that unfamiliar demand for documents. The days of "easy come, easy go" border crossings are over.
Few Canadians are aware that legislation passed last year by the United States Congress requires that everyone entering or leaving the United States will be subject to entry and exit controls. Not only will the entry and departure be recorded and monitored, but also some Canadians will be fingerprinted and photographed. The new law is called the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Reform Act and is to be fully implemented by the end of 2005. It is a response to the events of 9/11 and the sudden and terrible realization that the United States is vulnerable to attacks from within by terrorists who could be in possession of weapons of mass destruction.
Prior to the September, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the United States was one of the easiest countries in the world to enter and to remain in. Apart from the millions of Mexicans and Central Americans who illegally crossed into the United States to find work, there were thousands of visitors, students and temporary workers in the United States who had overstayed their time and whose whereabouts were unknown. Furthermore, visas to enter the United States often were issued by consular officers abroad without a personal interview. All of the 19 terrorists involved in the 9/11 attack entered on temporary visas and several of them obtained their visas without having been interviewed.
Before 9/11, the violation of immigration rules was not a big deal in North America. The laws were not enforced with determination and the enforcement agencies were not adequately staffed to carry out their functions properly. Two months after 9/11, the head of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service [INS], admitted that the whereabouts of 314,000 individuals ordered removed from the country were not known. Obtaining a social insurance number, opening a bank account or getting a driver's licence was not a problem. In New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and other major cities in the United States the local law enforcement agencies were ordered not to report illegal aliens to federal authorities unless the alien was suspected of having committed a criminal offence. In the United States, as in Canada, strict enforcement of immigration rules was not politically acceptable.
After 9/11 the Americans tightened up. They acted swiftly and with determination. The new entry and exit law is but one of a number of measures adopted to try and prevent another catastrophic terrorist outrage. The government of the United States has truly declared war on terrorism. It fully expects its allies to do the same.
Curiously, the Canadian government has not taken the terrorist threat seriously. The steps that have been taken have been cautious and tentative. It took months before the federal government was willing to add Hamas and Hezbollah to its list of terrorist organizations. Government authorities expressed outraged protest when Canadian citizens of Middle Eastern origin were required to be fingerprinted and photographed before being permitted to enter the United States.
Two months after 9/11 a new Immigration and Refugee Protection Act was introduced in Parliament that made it easier for thousands of asylum seekers to come into Canada and more difficult for serious criminals and terrorists to be removed. Asylum seekers arriving in Canada without documents (many from terrorist-producing countries) are still not detained even if their identity or background is not known. Detention of these illegal entrants continues to be politically unacceptable in Canada.
In October, 2002, Denis Coderre, the Minister of Immigration, introduced immigration regulations that many Americans would interpret as an offensive gesture of Canadian moral superiority. The regulations allow individuals in the United States charged or convicted of an offence punishable by death to enter Canada if they show up at the border. This is almost like saying if there are terrorists on the run in the United States -- head for the Canadian border, we will let you in.
U.S. authorities recently reported there are 78,000 illegal aliens residing in the United States from countries that are of a security concern. Since the new rules require these people to register with immigration authorities, many thousands of them will be heading for Canada rather than returning home. Hundreds have already entered or are lining up at the border seeking to come into Canada as asylum seekers. Since we cannot turn away anyone who claims to be persecuted, all those who apply will be admitted. So much for Canadian sovereignty and the ability to decide on who can or cannot enter your country.
And so it goes. There is little that Canada has done since 9/11 to demonstrate solidarity with our American neighbours. Yet our Foreign Affairs Minister, Bill Graham, has been quoted as saying that Ottawa wants a blanket exemption from the new U.S. rules. Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew has been making the same plea. Get real, fellows -- our Prime Minister's reluctance to stand with U.S. President George Bush in his war against Saddam Hussein has dashed any hope we have of getting an exemption from the new law. So, Canadians: "Your documents please!"
James Bissett is a former Canadian ambassador and was head of the Canadian Immigration Service from 1985-90.
nationalpost.com{8A7608FB-2640-4CE3-A6BF-8359A2FDCD50} |
