Canadian sues claiming abuse at U.S. border

Canadian sues claiming abuse at U.S. border

www.freep.com

Loretta Van Beek of Stratford, Ontario, who said she travels to the U.S. regularly to vacation in Georgia, said agents sent her to secondary inspection because she failed to declare raspberries.

She said agents questioned her during a two-hour session, then ordered her to strip. She said one agent aggressively groped her breasts and genital area for an extended period of time while the other watched. Then they photographed and fingerprinted her and sent her back to Canada, the suit said.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Don't feel too bad Loretta, you may have been in WORSE conditions had it of been the TSA!

More sexual violations by our gov trained employees, who seem to have a prerequisite for wanting to fondle and molest the general populace, and degrade people for RIDICULOUSLY trivial things, such as the case here---Failing to declare some RASBERRIES.

Yeah, THAT constituted virtually RAPING the gal and traumatizing her. She must have been considered a "terrorist threat" due to her dangerous berries!

Unreal.

www.freep.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

These are the reasons I would not travel to the US.. to much risk I'd end up attempting to give someone a right good hiding should they try those techniques on me or my partner..

I've worked with US companies for years, and the amount of times I had colleagues return from places like the Soviet Union with black eyes, bruised ribs simply because they would not accept abuse or harassment by customs officials at the airport, and yet now you guys seem to be bending over and accepting it from your own!!

In all honesty, what gives with that?

reply to post by thoughtsfull


Yes, I agree, it is sickening.

Right here on this very site, we have folks regularly DEFEND these types of measures, particularly the groping of citizens at our airports.

They passively and apathetically excuse these types of violations either by buying into the gov scare-mongering of, "it's keeping us all safe from the terrorists!", or by saying, "no one is FORCING you to fly, if you don't like it, use another mode of transportation"---Not realizing that these violations of a person's dignity and civil liberties are beginning to be EXPANDED into other modalities of travel, and of everyday activities and places of commerce.

Our freedoms and dignity are being removed one step at a time, and all of the asleep sheep not only don't care, but they actually DEFEND it. Really sad.

Sorry op I couldn't resist!!!



Nobody passes without proper screening...

Before 911 the last time I went through I was fine, but man those guys are humourless. One of them was upset I was taking my homework with me. Seriously looked at me like I might be insane. Why is it important that I had to do homework? My class didn't stop just because I was attending a wedding.

I was really happy I wasn't brown - all the brown people were taken to the side. ALL of them. Including the ones that were Native American. Apparently, brown is the new black.

I live on a border here and rarely cross anymore. Border guards, I realize have a job to do but to be rude or deliberately provoking fear is not acceptable.

We consider ourselves guilty till the border guard gives back our passports and allows us to continue through.

What really peeves me is my own Country Canada, asks to see my passport when re-entering...now here I voice my disapproval and they just listen, no threatening back at me or anything. Canada is my home I should not have to show my passport if I tell them I am Canadian, Canada didn't have towers go down. US is pressuring Canada into enforce this.

reply to post by DimensionalDetective


I have never been one to agree with these measures... nor accept being treated like a sheep that needs to be driven.. my question was honest.. I've worked with many, many good Americans.. and not known one that would accept this type of abuse.. so this change is rather shocking for me to accept!

I've mentioned this before on the site, but I was outside the Grand Hotel in Brighton when it was bombed by the IRA in an attempt to wipe out Maggies Government..

The statement from the IRA was that while we have to be lucky all the time, they only have to be lucky once.. and that is as true today of any group wiling to cause mahem and death, and nothing can stop them from that lucky once.

While I am not a supporter of Maggie or her Gov, I do support her position that we would need to give up our liberties to achieve the level of security that would prevent such threats from becoming a reality, but to give up our freedoms in that way would also mean conceding they (the terrorists) have won.

Sad to think that our Governments are demonstrating that the terrorists have won now, as little by little our liberties are stripped away.

Originally posted by Rhain
I live on a border here and rarely cross anymore. Border guards, I realize have a job to do but to be rude or deliberately provoking fear is not acceptable.

We consider ourselves guilty till the border guard gives back our passports and allows us to continue through.

What really peeves me is my own Country Canada, asks to see my passport when re-entering...now here I voice my disapproval and they just listen, no threatening back at me or anything. Canada is my home I should not have to show my passport if I tell them I am Canadian, Canada didn't have towers go down. US is pressuring Canada into enforce this.

It completely makes sense for the Canadian border to ask for you to prove your statement of citizenship or landing.

Sadly, that is the new state of our union, big brother watching our every move...and force ably infringing on our rights. Its sickening!

reply to post by Aeons


For 40 years my word was fine.

They just started asking last year .

Originally posted by Rhain
reply to post by Aeons

 

For 40 years my word was fine.

They just started asking last year .

So what. It never occured to you that people lie?

Tried crossing the border from Cornwall into Massena last year. Got pulled over at the boarder because it had been over 10 years since I had been in the states. That and when they asked me why I was visiting today I told them that I wanted to buy Land O Lakes Butter. Can't get that in Canada. So they pull me into the holding room, about 10 guys staring at me with mirrors everywhere. Two guys behind computers typing like mad. Kept me there for over 30 minutes without saying a word. In the end told me to go, but I just turned around first chance I got and headed for home. Never again.

Hmmm. So, if you're at the border or at a travel point, are all your rights suspended?

What if she refused the strip search and just left?

Does the USA seriously want people to just not leave again? You came in, now you want to go home.....but we don't want you to leave.

The "Speed of Trust" indeed. At what point does stopping and annoying people become indecent and ridiculous? Stopping people at the border to question them for 2 hours over raspberries is the height of wasting time and costing money. How does this behaviour protect you?

This critical conversation seems to be not happening. How does strip searching and wasting two guards time for RASPBERRIES help your country? Two guards who are feeling up Ms.Random Visitor and now NOT on the floor looking for REAL threats to your country.

That's the real conversation the government isn't having with itself. Your border security is being driven by people who HATE people outside the USA, and don't want USA citizens to leave. And that's ridiculous.Those people are going to STRANGLE your economy if you don't reign them in.

They are wasting your precious money and time for trivial things, and at the same time actually making you LESS secure and providing less of the real security you need.

Why are you accepting that?

Originally posted by pedroroach
Tried crossing the border from Cornwall into Massena last year. Got pulled over at the boarder because it had been over 10 years since I had been in the states. That and when they asked me why I was visiting today I told them that I wanted to buy Land O Lakes Butter. Can't get that in Canada. So they pull me into the holding room, about 10 guys staring at me with mirrors everywhere. Two guys behind computers typing like mad. Kept me there for over 30 minutes without saying a word. In the end told me to go, but I just turned around first chance I got and headed for home. Never again.

Apparently, the people at the border think the USA economy doesn't want influx of money.

Brilliant economists.

reply to post by Aeons


A lot of people I know are the same way. They get treated like dirt at the border and never go back. In this world the only way to vote on anything is with your feet and your wallet. I chose to vote against the USA and so many others.

those responsible for the mass gropings and those who actually do the groping are all traitors...execution is the punishment for treason...eventually people are going to start taking the law into their own hands, and i wont be shedding a tear for these nazis when they do

The sad irony is the US leaves the Mexican border nearly completely unprotected while we apparently over-exert force on the Canadian border. Who is more dangerous? The guy trying to buy land-o-lakes butter or the Mexican drug cartel?

reply to post by HenryPatrick


I fail to see how they qualify as traitors.

A brilliant example of the sociological phenomena that one can be a molester if given "permission" to be so by an "authority" sure. Traitors? That's a pretty specific legal definition, and I don't believe this qualifies.

Originally posted by jjkenobi
The sad irony is the US leaves the Mexican border nearly completely unprotected while we apparently over-exert force on the Canadian border. Who is more dangerous? The guy trying to buy land-o-lakes butter or the Mexican drug cartel?

There was a great quote by some US Senator calling Canada a "Red Communist Horde to the North."

AWESOME. Seriously, I'm still laughing about that one.