--- gabriel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Canadian in passport fiasco > Humiliated by immigration staff > > JIM RANKIN > STAFF REPORTER > > A Toronto woman coming home from India says she > was pulled > aside at Chicago's O'Hare > Airport, accused of using a fake Canadian > passport, denied > consular assistance and > threatened with jail. > > In tears and desperate, Berna Cruz says she told > U.S. > Immigration and Naturalization > Services (INS) officers she didn't want to go to > jail. She > told them she had to get home to > her two children and was expected to be at work > the next > day > at a branch of a major > Toronto bank where she works as a loan officer. > > Instead of jailing her on Jan. 27, an INS officer > cut the > front page of Cruz's passport and > filled each page with "expedited removal" stamps, > rendering > it useless. > > She was photographed, fingerprinted, barred from > re-entering > the U.S. for five years and immediately "removed." > > Not to Toronto, but to India, where she had just > spent > several weeks visiting her parents. > > It took four days, and help from Canadian > officials in > Dubai > and a Kuwaiti Airlines pilot, to get her back home. > > "It was a total abuse," Cruz said in an interview > with the > Star. "I want to see them punished for this and bring some > justice." > > This week, Cruz sent a letter, along with a sworn > affidavit, > and the INS removal documents to Prime Minister Jean > Chr�tien and Foreign Affairs Minister Bill > Graham. > > The letter arrived at the Prime Minister's office > yesterday, > and staff had not had a chance to look into the story. But > Foreign Affairs spokesperson Reynald Doiron > confirmed > yesterday that staff in Dubai issued Cruz an emergency passport > and assisted in getting her home, via London. > > "We're going to bring her case to the attention > of the > State > Department in Washington, request an explanation on the INS > refusal to grant at least one phone call to Ms > Cruz, and > we'll see what the American response is going to be," Doiron said > last night. > > A full report is also expected from a Canadian > official in > Dubai and will be incorporated into the query that will be sent > to the State Department, said Doiron. > > A spokesperson for the INS in Chicago said she > needed time > to look into Cruz's story but did say that officers have the > authority to use expedited removals when > passengers have > no > documents or are carrying documents that are suspected to > be fraudulent or tampered with. > > "We have very high-tech technology out there to > detect > these > kinds of tampered documents," said Gail Montenegro. > "Also, any individual who expresses an interest > in > speaking > with their consular official, we grant that. We do it over the > phone. We do it all day. We do it any time that > request is > made." > > Montenegro said Cruz is welcome to file a > complaint and > that > the INS takes complaints about officer conduct seriously. > > Cruz feels she was harassed because of the colour > of her > skin. She says the INS officers humiliated her, and Canada, by > refusing to allow her to contact Canadian > authorities. > > Her ordeal began shortly after her flight from > India, via > Kuwait, arrived in Chicago the night of Jan. 27. With about two > hours to spare before her connecting flight to > Toronto, > she > had to first clear U.S. customs and immigration. > > At the counter, she says an INS officer told her > the > picture > on her passport looked "funky." She was brought to a room > where other passengers were being checked. They > all seemed > to be people of colour, she says. She says she noticed that > a passenger from her flight who spoke Punjabi had > also > been > pulled aside. > > Cruz insisted the passport was real. INS > officers, she > says, > said otherwise and became abusive. > > Cruz was born in Trivandrum, India, and > immigrated to > Canada > in 1994. Five years later, she became a citizen and > traded in her Indian passport for a Canadian one. > Her > birthplace is noted in the passport, and it's the same passport, > she > says, the INS officers suspected was a fake. > > An officer, says Cruz, suggested she had bought > it in Sri > Lanka and asked how much it cost her. > > Cruz says an officer also asked here why her > surname was > not > "Singh" and commented that it was clever of her to use a > Spanish name. Cruz, who is separated from her > husband, > says > she told the officers that her maiden name is Fernandez. It's > not uncommon for Indian-born people to have > Portuguese > surnames, but the officers didn't seem to care, she says. > > "They said, `You better tell the truth because we > know > this > is not a valid Canadian passport. We'll throw you in jail,'" > Cruz recalled. > > An officer, she says, held the passport up to a > light on > the > ceiling, flipped through pages and said there were "chemicals" > on it that indicated it was fake. > > What's odd, says Cruz, is that the passport > hadn't been > doubted when she was leaving Toronto, via the U.S., for India, > and > on previous trips to Boston, New York and Spain. > > Cruz says she tried to show the officers other > identification she had in her purse, but they weren't interested. > "I was > trying > to explain to them, but they didn't want to > listen to > anything, they didn't want to see anything." > > As many as five INS officers were involved in the > questioning, said Cruz. > > "They just gave me two options: end up in jail > (and wait > several days to speak with Canadian officials) or take the > flight. > I pleaded with them to get in touch with the > Canadian > embassy, or if I could make a call, and they said no." > > === message truncated ===
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