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--- Ronald Albuquerque <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I have a question. Ms Cruz is a Canadian citizen. > Could this have > happened to her if she presented an American > passport at the port of entry ? > > Interested in comments. rja, I do not know what the US policy is towards their own passport holders. I do know that Ms. Cruz did not have an US visa when she arrived/was in transit in the US. The US policy is to return those (via the carrier they arrived with) who deem doubtful travelers. A few years ago, we were travelling to the US for a field hockey tournament. We were about 24 Goans in 4 vans with a variety of passports i.e. Tanzanian, Kenyan, Indian, Portuguese etc. The US immigration officer let us all pass except the one guy who had a Finnish passport. The Finnish passport holder tried to stand up for his rights pointing out that he had a muntiple entry US visa stamped in his passport. The US immigration officer bluntly informed the hockey player that the visa was a document that allowed the holder the 'privilege' of entering the US and not the gurantee of entrance. In all fairness to Ms. Cruz, she did not have an US visa because the US does not require Canadian residents to have a US visa. I regulary drive accross the US/Canadian border without a passport. All I need to show is my Canadian drivers licience. Most of the time I get flaged thru with just a few questions such as, "What is the purpose of your journey?" "When are you returning" etc. However, at times, I do get a bad immigration officer who will ask questions like, "Where were you born," "Who are you going to visit," etc. I give them short and to the point answers. I learnt to to that in Africa and other third world countries. Immigration officers all over the world are the same, some are real good, some are self-important. The self-important ones are those to be carefull with, least they ruin your trip. The US immigration officer must have a point of view that we have not yet heard. I have to admit that I think Ms. Cruz attitude/answers to the immigration officer is partly to blame for the position she found herself in. Mervyn BTW, she is going to be a rich person if she keeps silent and lets her lawyers do the talking for her. ______________________________________________________________________ Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.goanet.org/mailman/listinfo/goanet