Canadians are hitting the brakes on U.S. travel plans as horror stories of border detentions pile up, thanks to a fresh wave of American immigration hardball. Immigration lawyer Len Saunders, based in Washington State, told CTV Your Morning on Wednesday that new executive orders—inked just days into the latest U.S. administration—are shaking things up big time.
“You’ve got Canadians locked up at the border, snowbirds forced to register if they stay past 30 days—it’s a mess,” Saunders said. “People are hearing this and thinking twice before crossing.”
Take Vancouver entrepreneur Jasmine Mooney. Her routine visa renewal at a San Diego checkpoint spiraled into a 12-day detention nightmare. Back in Canada as of Saturday, she told CTV News she’s still clueless about what went sideways—or why she was finally let go. “No one explained a thing,” she fumed after touching down at Vancouver International Airport.
Saunders, who counseled Mooney pre-debacle, says this isn’t the border he’s known in his decades of practice. “I’ve never seen a Canadian hauled off in cuffs over a work visa,” he said. “Used to be, if your paperwork was off, they’d just send you back to fix it—not throw you in a cell.”
The lawyer, a Canadian-turned-American himself, is waving a red flag for his compatriots. His pro tip? “Stick to airports with pre-clearance on Canadian soil. Get denied there, and you’re not stuck in U.S. custody.”
The fallout? A “chilling effect” on cross-border jaunts. Saunders says the buzz of boycotts is growing as Canadians recoil from the headlines. “I never imagined this,” he admitted. “It’s like the welcome mat’s been yanked out from under us.”
Courtesy CTV News