Six Iranian Canadians have told The Globe and Mail that they have been prevented from entering the U.S. on their Canadian passports since the election of Donald Trump. The Canada-U.S. border between Vermont and Quebec on Jan. 21.Carlos Osorio/Reuters
Canadian citizens born in Iran say they are routinely being stopped at the U.S. border and interrogated – and often not allowed to enter – as American authorities signal they are focusing their attention on preventing the entry of foreigners they characterize as a national-security threat.
Six Iranian Canadians have told The Globe and Mail that they have been prevented from entering the country on their Canadian passports since the election of Donald Trump. The Globe has also spoken to family members of Iranian Canadians who were stopped from entering the United States, as well as immigration lawyers contacted by Iranian-born Canadians who were turned away.
They said the treatment they receive at the border has become more aggressive, including being detained for hours for questioning, causing them to miss flights, as well as being fingerprinted.
Some said their luggage was rummaged through and their phones taken away, and that U.S. border agents asked them to provide their passcodes. One Canadian man with family in the U.S. who has travelled there without problems in the past said he was detained in a holding cell, handcuffed after hours of questioning, and turned back at a land border crossing on the way to visit his brother.
The Globe is not identifying the Canadians in this story because they fear being targeted if they try to re-enter the U.S.
Canadian citizens do not require a visa to travel to the U.S. However, naturalized Canadians have their country of origin on their passports. Immigration lawyers say this is prompting increased scrutiny of people from countries including Iran that are deemed by the Trump administration to harbour terrorist groups.
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Last month, FBI Director Kash Patel told a House intelligence committee hearing that the U.S. must be more vigilant about who is entering the U.S. from Canada.
“Known and suspected terrorists are flowing in through our northern border more than they are our southern border,” he said.
Male Canadian Iranians, some of whom have lived here for decades, say they were asked at the border to show proof of exemption from compulsory military service in Iran, or a record of Iranian military service. Those who failed to produce the requested paperwork were refused entry.
Male Iranians can be conscripted into the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which both the U.S. and Canada consider a terrorist organization.
Some of those The Globe spoke to left Iran to escape its fundamentalist regime. They said they have visited the U.S. previously with their Canadian passports with no problems at the border.
On Jan. 20, the newly inaugurated Mr. Trump signed an executive order that called for more stringent screening of foreign nationals entering the U.S. The order signalled that grounds of inadmissibility to the U.S. would be adjusted to “ensure the continued safety and security of the American people.”
To reinforce the order, the Trump administration is reported to be considering formally issuing a complete ban on travel to the U.S. for the citizens of scores of countries, including Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and Somalia, with further entry restrictions on citizens of Eritrea, Haiti, Sierra Leone, Myanmar and others.
The Immigration and Nationality Act lists more than 60 grounds of inadmissibility into the U.S.
One Canadian professional accused U.S. border authorities of discrimination and harassment of Iranian-born people. He said being denied entry when heading there on vacation cost him the price of a flight and hotel room. He said border agents told him his documents were not in order although he was travelling on a Canadian passport.
Another Iranian-born Canadian, on his way to visit family in the U.S., was turned away twice at the land border in March. The man, who works in finance, was questioned about his background for hours and taken to a holding cell. Border agents looked through his phone and asked for access to private messages, and he was briefly put in handcuffs while being taken back to the Canadian border. His American family had to change their plans and come to Canada to see him.
He said he was in shock at this treatment and regarded the policy targeting Canadians from particular countries as racist.
“The Trump administration is enforcing immigration laws – something the previous administration failed to do,” said Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security. “Those who violate these laws will be processed, detained, and removed as required.”
Global Affairs Canada is facing fresh calls from immigration lawyers to update its U.S. travel advisory, warning Canadians and residents of Canada born in Iran and other countries such as Syria and Afghanistan that they could face intense questioning or be denied entry or detained.
Britain and Germany have already issued warnings to their citizens about travelling to the U.S. since Mr. Trump took office.
Immigration lawyer Debbie Rachlis said the government should “be a little more pro-active” and warn Canadian citizens that they may face problems when entering the U.S.
Ms. Rachlis said that being stopped at the border and questioned, or being denied entry, could have implications for future travel, as U.S. border agents flag people they have stopped for continuing closer scrutiny.
“We know that people are not being treated the same at the border. The stories we are hearing are really worrying,” she said.
Hilton Beckham, assistant commissioner at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said that “under the leadership of the Trump administration, we have seen a sharp decline in illegal immigration.”
“This reduction has allowed our law enforcement personnel to get back to doing law enforcement work, like conducting thorough vetting and interviews,” she said. “Lawful travellers have nothing to fear from these measures, which are designed to protect our nation’s security. However, those intending to enter the U.S. with fraudulent purposes or malicious intent – don’t even try.”
One Canadian graduate student who was born in Iran but, like his parents, has dual citizenship, was denied entry for a vacation after being questioned about whether he did military service in Iran. He fled Iran to escape conscription. He said he is concerned that he will not be allowed into the U.S. for interviews to attend medical school there.
A young Canadian professional with Iranian-born parents said she is now routinely pulled aside, to her embarrassment, when she travels to the U.S. for business or to visit family. She previously travelled there with her father, who was denied entry despite being a Canadian citizen for decades.
Immigration lawyers have told The Globe that they had had clients from Iran denied entry with their families. Forty-eight hours after being refused entry, one Iranian-born Canadian learned that his Nexus card – a membership identification card that allows expedited processing for preapproved, low-risk travellers entering the U.S. – had been cancelled.
Starting April 11, some Canadian citizens who plan to visit the U.S. for longer than 30 days will have to complete a registration form and have their fingerprints taken. But Nexus cardholders will be exempt.