Canadians who use pot could be banned from U.S.
CHILLIWACK, Canada — Bill Powers flipped through the sworn statement he gave to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the printed pages taking him back to that August afternoon — back to the border checkpoint into Washington state where agents asked if he had ever smoked marijuana.
Yes, he answered, not initially thinking much of the question. The 57-yearold Canadian has a license for medical marijuana, and pot had been legal in Washington for six years. Like that, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents turned him away with an extreme decree: He had been banned from the United States.
“It’s absolutely out of control. Here I am being honest with the United States and I get the boot,” Powers said on a recent afternoon as he stood in his driveway in this farming town an hour east of Vancouver. “I have a license ... yet they’re turning people away for pot? It makes not a single bit of sense.”
With Canada set to legalize recreational marijuana nationwide on Wednesday — only the second country to do so, following Uruguay — many Canadians, especially those who live near the border, face growing anxiety over what to say if U.S. customs agents ask them if they’ve ever consumed marijuana.
Lying to a border agent can result in a person being denied entry. But so too can being honest about past marijuana use.
While nearly every state along the U.S.-Canada border has legalized marijuana, at least for medical use, ports of entry fall under federal jurisdiction, meaning cannabis is still viewed as a Schedule I drug — just like heroin.
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, U.S. border agents — who have broad discretion in what questions they ask people seeking entry — can turn away noncitizens who acknowledge having used a controlled substance, ever.
Last year, U.S. officials turned away 22,000 Canadians at ports of entry, deeming them inadmissible, according to the most recent available data. The Department of Homeland Security does not list the reasons a person is denied entry and the agency declined to say how many Canadians are annually deemed inadmissible because of marijuana.
But based on interviews with immigration attorneys here in the Pacific Northwest, hundreds of new marijuana admission cases come in each week.
Len Saunders, Powers’ attorney, said he’s averaged two new clients a week for the past year. He expects the number to increase after Canada legalizes pot, making it more accessible and acceptable to use.
“Business is booming as Canadians are being turned away for simply admitting to taking a drag of a joint 20 years ago. It’s that silly,” Saunders said. “They’re being penalized for honesty. No one wants to lie to a border agent.”
His clients often face a pricey workaround, Saunders said. They can apply for a waiver — about $600 in addition to legal fees — that grants entry into the U.S. for up to five years. The individual must carry the waiver at all times when in America. The process must be repeated when it’s time to renew.
Saunders, whose office is in Blaine, Wash., a border town along Interstate 5, said the overlap of immigration law and the piecemeal marijuana policies in the United States make for frustrating legal situations, especially in states where marijuana is allowed for recreational and medical use, like Washington.
“If you’re a Canadian tourist in Seattle and you’re over the age of 21, you can buy marijuana. But if on your next trip to the U.S., you’re questioned by border agents and you admit to using pot in the past, you can be banned,” he said. “It’s totally backwards and doesn’t make sense.”
Last year, more than a dozen members of Congress wrote to U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, as well as to U.S. border officials, to express concerns about Canadians and other noncitizens being targeted at U.S. ports of entry.
“We ask that your respective agencies develop policies that ban penalizing noncitizens based on their use or possession of marijuana if they are visiting or residing in states that have enacted marijuana use laws,” the lawmakers wrote.