Excerpt: "On Thursday six Canadian and two French activists traveling from
Montreal, Quebec to Washington, D.C. to attend Saturday's Women's March on
Washington were stopped, questioned, and ultimately refused entry at a land
border crossing near Champlain, New York."
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer at the U.S.-Canada border.
(photo: Elaine Thompson/AP)
Women's March Protesters Refused Entry to US
By teleSUR
21 January 17
On Thursday activists trying to cross the U.S.-Canada border to attend
Saturday's march were interrogated, searched, and ultimately refused entry.
On Thursday six Canadian and two French activists traveling from Montreal,
Quebec to Washington, D.C. to attend Saturday's Women's March on Washington
were stopped, questioned, and ultimately refused entry at a land border
crossing near Champlain, New York.
"We said we were going to the Women's March on Saturday and they said,
'Well, you're going to have to pull over'," Sasha Dyck, told the Guardian.
For the next two hours, U.S. border agents searched their cars, examined
their cell phones, and fingerprinted each of the eight-person contingent.
Dyck, a Canadian citizen and resident of Montreal, said that border guards
then told the two French nationals that they were being denied entry into
the U.S. No reason was given.
Despite the fact that neither French nor Canadian citizens require a Visa to
travel to the U.S., the border guards told the French nationals they would
require a Visa for any future visit.
"Then for the rest of us [Canadians], they said, 'You're headed home
today'," Dyck said, adding that they were told that they would be arrested
if they tried to cross the border again any time over the weekend.
At the same crossing U.K. national Jason Kroese reported that he was
fingerprinted, photographed, and ultimately refused entry because, a border
agent explained, he and his companions were planning on attending a
"potentially violent rally."
Kroese said his group was also told they should not attempt to travel to the
U.S. for "a few months" and he was personally told he would need a Visa for
future visits, despite the fact that U.K. citizens do not require Visas to
visit the U.S.
Another protester, Joseph Decunha of Montreal, told the CBC that he was also
refused entry at the border after being asked for his political views.
"The first thing [the agent] asked us point blank is, 'Are you anti- or pro-
Trump?'" said Decunha.
"They told me I was being denied entry for administrative reasons. According
to the agent, my traveling to the United States for the purpose of
protesting didn't constitute a valid reason to cross," Decunha said. "It
felt like, if we had been pro-Trump, we would have absolutely been allowed
entry."
Hundreds of thousands are expected to take to the streets of Washington,
D.C. Saturday as part of the Women's March on Washington, including many
thousands who did manage to cross the U.S.-Canada border over the past few
days.
While political interrogation, fingerprinting, searches, and ultimately
refusal of entry at the U.S. border are nothing new for Indigenous, Muslim
or South-Asian travelers, the specific refusal related to a peaceful protest
reminds some of the most recent attempts by Republican lawmakers in five
states to criminalize a variety of forms of peaceful protest.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer at the U.S.-Canada border.
(photo: Elaine Thompson/AP)
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Womens-March-Protesters-Refused-Entry-
to-U.S.-20170121-0005.htmlhttp://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Womens-March
-Protesters-Refused-Entry-to-U.S.-20170121-0005.html
Women's March Protesters Refused Entry to US
By teleSUR
21 January 17
On Thursday activists trying to cross the U.S.-Canada border to attend
Saturday's march were interrogated, searched, and ultimately refused entry.
n Thursday six Canadian and two French activists traveling from Montreal,
Quebec to Washington, D.C. to attend Saturday's Women's March on Washington
were stopped, questioned, and ultimately refused entry at a land border
crossing near Champlain, New York.
"We said we were going to the Women's March on Saturday and they said,
'Well, you're going to have to pull over'," Sasha Dyck, told the Guardian.
For the next two hours, U.S. border agents searched their cars, examined
their cell phones, and fingerprinted each of the eight-person contingent.
Dyck, a Canadian citizen and resident of Montreal, said that border guards
then told the two French nationals that they were being denied entry into
the U.S. No reason was given.
Despite the fact that neither French nor Canadian citizens require a Visa to
travel to the U.S., the border guards told the French nationals they would
require a Visa for any future visit.
"Then for the rest of us [Canadians], they said, 'You're headed home
today'," Dyck said, adding that they were told that they would be arrested
if they tried to cross the border again any time over the weekend.
At the same crossing U.K. national Jason Kroese reported that he was
fingerprinted, photographed, and ultimately refused entry because, a border
agent explained, he and his companions were planning on attending a
"potentially violent rally."
Kroese said his group was also told they should not attempt to travel to the
U.S. for "a few months" and he was personally told he would need a Visa for
future visits, despite the fact that U.K. citizens do not require Visas to
visit the U.S.
Another protester, Joseph Decunha of Montreal, told the CBC that he was also
refused entry at the border after being asked for his political views.
"The first thing [the agent] asked us point blank is, 'Are you anti- or pro-
Trump?'" said Decunha.
"They told me I was being denied entry for administrative reasons. According
to the agent, my traveling to the United States for the purpose of
protesting didn't constitute a valid reason to cross," Decunha said. "It
felt like, if we had been pro-Trump, we would have absolutely been allowed
entry."
Hundreds of thousands are expected to take to the streets of Washington,
D.C. Saturday as part of the Women's March on Washington, including many
thousands who did manage to cross the U.S.-Canada border over the past few
days.
While political interrogation, fingerprinting, searches, and ultimately
refusal of entry at the U.S. border are nothing new for Indigenous, Muslim
or South-Asian travelers, the specific refusal related to a peaceful protest
reminds some of the most recent attempts by Republican lawmakers in five
states to criminalize a variety of forms of peaceful protest.
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
