US Customs agent denies entry into the US to a Canadian woman based on her medical background! WTH?

I hope I'm posting this in the right place. A woman was trying to board a flight at Toronto Pearson Airport to catch a cruise with a group from the March of Dimes, when the agent cited her past hospitalization for depression as sufficient grounds to deny her entry into the US. The big question here is how the heck is Homeland Security able to access Canadian's medical records????

She doesn't have a criminal or police record, police were not involved in her hospitalization so it makes no sense that the border agent was able to access that information.

Here is a story on the issue.
Canadian woman denied entry into US based on medical history
Any Canadians on ATS want to weigh in on this?

reply to post by meemaw

I was talking to a person yesterday and she told me that her husband who was in the Canadian military and was injured in a car accident and released from duty lost 70% of his pension because of Obamacare ...I am not sure how that could have been but there is some crazy serious stuff going on under what we are being told ...

reply to post by meemaw


TPTB are definitely going too far anymore! It was probably the NSA spying on Canadians through computers and other electronic devices that allowed them access to Canadian medical records. For all we know they could have that type of information on everyone worldwide. Computers make life easier, but at a cost of privacy. What I don't understand is why should it make a difference if someone has been diagnosed with depression or not to be allowed to get a connecting flight through America? It's not like she applied for residency(which shouldn't really matter either).

The link to the story in the OP is a dead link. Here is a working link for everyone to use to read the full story for themselves.

Canadian woman refused U.S. entry because of depression

I made a thread a while ago about the fact Harper's government was agreeing in giving information on Canadian citizens to US secret services, etc.

If someone you know in Canada makes wave on a touchy subject, it's enough to prevent you to get in the US.

link to past thread

Your link says the article can't be found.

Well, Canada does deny entry to Americans based on rather broad alcohol and drug convictions. They will let you in, though, after paying a hefty fee. I've never been to Canada, but I wouldn't be surprised if when you cross the border, it is just as random as what they do in the US when it comes to enhanced screening.

I would guess that the prescribed medication that a person has on them can give agents a pretty good idea of what kind of medical history they have.

I just spoke to an ER physician to ask how this is possible. She had read this story and her understanding is that when this woman in the news article "was in crisis" she called 911 which elicited police and ambulance response. When taken to the ER department, she was likely "formed" which was an 72 hour hold for psychiatric evaluation. Because she was "formed", that was what probably flagged on her record. None the less, under no circumstances should the US homeland security have access to this information, nor deny her entry because of it.
Word about this is spreading here quickly and people are disgusted and upset based on social media posts.
Your government gave "Homeland Security" a nice and fuzzy warm name, but I can think of a few more appropriate ones that accurately reflect their role....

reply to post by dfens


Both governments deny entry to anyone with any arrests for drugs, not just Canada. In Canada, you can apply for a pardon for minor drug arrests which would expunge it from your record, allowing you to enter into the US.

Also, read the story, they didn't get her history from the prescribed medications she was carrying, but from a "data check". You don't have to declare prescription drugs when you cross unless specifically asked.

reply to post by NowanKenubi


Thanks NowanKenubi, I'll check it out. I didn't see it when you posted it, which is unfortunate. It's sad what's going on under our noses, we're far too complicit up here. Am I nuts to think maybe "Ford for PM" isn't so insane? LOL!

reply to post by meemaw

Yeah, I don't usually click links because it slows my computer down so bad.

I clicked this one, read the story. The thing that makes it so bad is not the $500 she would've had to pay, but the fact that she needed a permission slip from an "approved" doctor, which would've cost an easy $1000, and she would've missed her flight anyway. Clever extortion scheme, huh?

The article also stated that this woman has a website, and also wrote a book, both of which describes her battles with depression, mental illness, etc..

So is it really a surprise that she caught the radar of people who might not agree with her personally? It doesn't even take a major conspiracy if you piss the wrong person off, (which seems to be the case), to get blacklisted. Especially when you admittedly publish the ammo in the public domain.

Just like the cops say, "Everything can and will be used against You". Not just a court of law anymore.

meemaw
Am I nuts to think maybe "Ford for PM" isn't so insane? LOL!

Despite his problems with the PC police who think crack and booze are bad, he does actually have a decent record of accomplishment, from what I hear. Pretty honest, too.

He 'cracks' me up, LOL, cuz he's hilarious in public. Just because he says and does stupid things in public doesn't mean that he doesn't get it done behind closed doors. It's sort of the opposite in America.

Well I sure want to see this one nailed down. I hope someone from Canada catches the followup on this to share how it turns out.

I was across the Canadian border many times as a trucker over the years and it's a wild place depending on which crossing point it is, what mood the customs people are in on both sides and of course, how a long list of B.S. basis for refusing entry plays out...even to a commercial truck delivering what they want.

I've never heard of mental health being any part of the screening though, even on the much stricter Canadian side. Drugs? Yes. ANY arrest of ANY kind...They'll see it and may say no, regardless of what it's about. Depression and multiple attempts to commit suicide?? That's a new one.

I wonder if we didn't simply have a crusading immigrations control officer who had a thing against overweight people, suicidal people or both. She is or has been both, and that is what it showed. That's a pretty cruel way to exercise personal grudges.

* Personally, I just assume every official contact I have with Government on any level can, if they choose, pull ANY record of my personal history and past. That isn't necessarily true, but acting as if it were avoids problems, I've found. These days, it's 'close enough for Gov't work'.

reply to post by dfens


What you say is true but having grown up sitting and listening to my parents and their friends describe what it was like to live in an "occupied" country where everything you did, thought and said was scrutinized and used against you if you went against the occupying forces policies, it saddens me to see western nations that fought against that take a very similar stance with it's citizens, be it covert or out in the open....

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


As a trucker, you'll appreciate this story.

I ran from the western lower 48 to Alaska for a couple of years. To cross into Alaska on the Al-Can hwy, you cross at Beaver Creek, Yukon, which is twenty miles from the actual border, and enter the U.S. at "Al-Can".

There is twenty miles between the U.S. customs and the Canadian Customs. That's twenty miles of an almost no-man's land-the Canadians having decided to build the customs at the closest town which is Beaver Creek and the U.S. built theirs right on the actual border.

On a trip west/south, I spot a woman sitting in the cold at a pull-off in that "no-man's land". No car, just a bundle of some sort. It was fairly cold, so when I got to the Canadian Customs, I reported this situation to the Canadian Customs people. They informed the R.C.M.P. who patrol and service that no-man's land, and responded to my report. I continued heading south, having done my duty.

On the next trip north, I stopped at Beaver Creek to ask them about this lady and between them and the U.S. Custom people, I got the full story.

This lady had a mental history, lived in Alaska and HATED Alaska. She was attempting to get to the lower 48...for YEARS.

She, as a mental patient, was on the "no-fly" list. Ships are part of the "no-fly list" restrictions. She had no money, no car.

She'd get truckers and tourists to take her across the U.S. crossing which doesn't check south-bound traffic and get them to drop her off in the 20 mile no-man zone. At that point she'd either convince some good Samaritan who would stop to help her to take her closer to Beaver Creek and either get caught there or sneak across and try to get a ride south.

As a mental patient, the Canadians would boot her back to the U.S. Customs people who would then transport her back to Fairbanks where she lived.

This would repeat itself multiple times and finally the Canadian border people got tired of it and threatened to delivery her to the southern border and be done with it.

That was about 5 years back and I haven't heard anything more about her as I run local Washington and B.C. loads these days.

The point is there's many barriers to crossing both ways, by both countries. No only criminal records, but if you have certain security clearances where the Canadian's can't access you records/have gaps, they'll boot you back to the U.S. in a heartbeat.

Yet, other security clearances will get you V.I.P. status on both sides with salutes and yessirs and smiles...go figure.

The short of it is this "mental" aspect is not restricted data as it's under the medical data, from my understanding,
hence, not restricted between the two countries.

People are surprised by this? If they would have the balls to spy on German Chancellor Merkel why would anyone think that Canadian agencies would be off limits?

reply to post by intrepid


Intrepid, this "mental" condition is considered medical data and that isn't restricted by either country. There are many restrictions placed by both countries on people on "mental history" lists. Purchasing rifles/guns, "no-fly" lists. Haz-Mat endorsements for Commercial drivers.

I'm sure there are more that I don't know.

Canada does the same as I posted just above yours.

nwtrucker
reply to post by intrepid

 

Intrepid, this "mental" condition is considered medical data and that isn't restricted by either country.

Medical data isn't restricted? I beg to differ. Even my employer can't get any of that info unless I sign a waiver.

reply to post by intrepid


Your employer may be restricted, as it should be, the two gov'ts are not so restricted.

Well if that lady isn't getting in because past depression I've got no chance, by they standards I'd make Charles Manson look like somebody you'd bring home to meet your mom.

I wonder why all the AIDS-infected Haitians weren't denied admittance?
one of many links