Many Canadians traveling to the United States will have to register recently in the United States Government from Friday or to deal with possible fines or prison time.
The requirement comes from an executive order that the President of the United States, Donald Trump, signed his first day in office for non -citizens who are in the country for 30 days or more, although the administration has argued that there has always been a registration requirement and that officials now simply apply it for everyone.
A North -American Federal Judge allowed the Trump administration to move forward with the requirement for unauthorized people to register in the federal government and bring documentation.
From Friday, Canadians over the age of 14 who will be in the United States during this period of time will have to register for citizens and immigration services in the United States (USCIS).
Officials of the National Security Department (DHS), where the USCIS agency is housed, emphasized this year that the registration requirement will be fully applied. DHS says that the number of people in general who are affected by the rule, not only the Canadians, could be between 2.2 and 3.2 million.
« North -American authorities strictly apply the entry requirements, » the Canadian government said in updated travel advice last week. « Wait for scrutiny in entry ports, including electronic devices. It complies with all interactions with border authorities. If they are denied entry, you could be detained while waiting for deportation. »
The federal government has updated its online travel advice quietly to remind Canadians that they « expect scrutiny » from border patrol officers if they travel to the United States.
Imprints not necessary for Canada
Janie Patterson, a Canadian who has traveled widely in Florida for the last ten years, told CBC News on Friday that the registration requirement was « amazing and inconvenient and avoiding many worries about what will happen later. »
This feeling is common, according to the site Snowbirdadvisor.ca, which has noticed « widespread misinformation and conflicting information that circulates online and through mouth to mouth on the new registration requirements, which has created anxiety and confusion among the Canadian snow birds … »
Part of the confusion comes from the differences that often occur when Canadians travel to the United States by plane, unlike entering the country on a land border.
Many who want would have received the I-94 form required and should not be recorded if they have been sent before. Most driving in the United States does not deliver an I-94.
In order to know their status, travelers must enter online travel information through a US immigration website Upon arrival.
Those needed to register -must have a registration test at all times or to deal with fines of up to $ 5,000 or prison for up to six months, or both.
The Canadians are currently exempt from presenting their fingerprints, a requirement that citizens of other countries remain in the United States for more than 30 days will face.
Patterson, who has returned to Canada during the year, has often led to the border again and again. But he said that for next year, he contemplates flying « to prevent all the disaster from crossing the border, possibly being detained. »
« The pendulum has passed 180 degrees »
The implementation occurs at a time of intense tensions between the countries. The President has reflected that Canada should be another north -American state, while some Canadian business sectors have been one of the first to impose the new rates of the second Trump administration.
The number of return trips between the Canadians traveling to the United States in March kick Compared to the previous year: 32 percent lower than land trips and a decrease of 13.5 percent of those traveling through the air.
New data reveals a significant fall in Canadian travel in the United States, causing questions about the change of tourist habits. The travel consultant McKenzie McMillan weighs the numbers and where the Canadians go.
Although the weakness of the Canadian dollar has been reduced to the big and recent news coverage of the treatment of tourists and students by the front -line immigration staff who could deter travelers in the United States.
« In past administrations, you would not see these cases, » said Len Saunders, an immigration lawyer in the United States, at CBC News. « It is almost as if the pendulum has gone from 180 degrees, from low applications to a maximum of compliance. »
In the court ruling on Thursday, Judge Trevor Neil McFadden, designated by Trump in the United States District Court for the Columbia district in 2017, was in the administration, which had argued that officials simply applied a requirement that already existed.
Canadian actress Jasmine Mooney tells CBC News about her 11 -day Ice detention after trying to enter the United States to renew her work visa. Mooney describes what he saw as « disgusting » by saying of his detention cell: « This place breaks you. »
McFadden’s ruling did not enter into the substance of these arguments, but was largely based on the technical question of whether the groups pressing to stop the requirement had to follow their claims. He ruled no.
One of these groups, the National Immigration Law Center, called the « disappointing » sentence and urged people who think they could be affected by « consulting an immigration lawyer to better understand the consequences of the register or not. »
Difficult choice for unauthorized US residents
The Federal Immigration Act that requires that people who are not North -American and to live in the United States be registered in the Government entered the Alien Registration Act of 1940, with an updated guidance with the 1952 law of immigration and nationality.
The application of these requirements has been inconsistent at best, but with the consequences of September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks are one of the rare exceptions.
Trump’s executive order in January was followed by the advice of national security officials on February 25 for people to self-confirm if they were not willing to register.
The administration has followed an aggressive deportation strategy, even expelling some migrants to separate third countries and not of origin. Others who requested asylum by means of an application introduced by the previous democratic administration He has been told that he is self -reported Since their claims will no longer be considered, it was reported this week.
Leaving foreign nationals who make prolonged American trips such as Canadian snow birds, the United States has a significant problem with unauthorized people within their borders, estimated between 11 and 12 million people for various immigration thoughts.
Although migrants crossing between border points in the United States are a politically hot and hot -attractive issue, so -called higher views are an important engine of unauthorized number. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, it was reported that tens of thousands of Canadians overcome his visa every year – Although, according to US government data, the figure has fallen slightly.
But groups like the National Immigration Law Center have argued that the United States government should have implemented a longer public notification process before provoking change.
And many who do not fall into the winter travelers category and have established deep family careers or links in the United States, face the election of presenting themselves to register, with a government that apparently intends to carry out large-scale deportations or stay under the radar and risk prison time.
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