“You can drive any way you want in Canada. But if you drive that way down here somebody might put a bullet up your ass.”
That was the advice Joel Helle, an officer with 9 years working for CBP, gave to a Canadian driver just after he grabbed the driver by the neck. But let’s recount what happened.
From the story in thenorthernlight.com, an SUV with BC plates drifted into Helle’s lane on the interstate. Both vehicles eventually pulled over, and Helle – feeling that the driver had tried to run him off the road – started banging on the driver’s window with his CBP badge. When the driver rolled his window down, he asked if he had tried to run him off the road because he was a CBP agent (he was in plain clothes and in his own vehicle at the time).
Then when the driver reached for something in the center console of the SUV, that’s when Helle chocked him.
Helle was convicted of felony harassment, which he had pleaded guilty to. Part of his sentence is mandatory anger management training and evaluation.
This is obviously an isolated case, but it shows the potential danger of giving carte-blanche authority to people who are not mentally/emotionally sound enough to use it professionally.
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I just want to comment on your blog. I actually had similar encounter, except it was my girlfriend that had problem entering US from Canada. CBP thought she had immigration intent and denied her entry. Ever since then, I realized what you realized - that Canada and US are separate entities.
ReplyDeleteShe was flagged in CBP's system after that incident. She attempt to cross on the same day with supporting documentation to prove her ties to Canada. But on her subsequent visit (some months after) to US, she got questioned on her immigration intent again and was almost denied, but was let in eventually.
I am wondering if you would have any advice for her to avoid further questioning. Wait until she's out of blacklist? - I heard there's time limit from an officer. Or resolve the problem through lawyer?
Have you travel to US recently? Do they still have doubt about your work intent? If not, you might be out of their watch-list.
Please reply to this post, I'll check this post every so often.