The Accidental Tourist - Jogger arrested for inadvertently crossing U.S. border

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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Jogger who accidentally crossed U.S. border from B.C. detained for 2 weeks - A woman from France visiting her mom in B.C. says U.S. Border Patrol held her for crossing into Blaine, Wash.

A 19-year-old woman from France who was visiting her mother who lives in Surrey, BC accidentally crossed into the United States in Blaine, WA. (I live in Blaine, according to the Post Office.) The Canadian border is four miles directly north from my house. Once upon a time, someone accidentally stepping across the border would have been told, ‘You’ve crossed the border.’ The person would have said, ‘Oops. I’m sorry. I’ll go back.’ The boarder guard would say, ‘It happens all the time. Have a nice day.’ Of course nowadays, U.S. agents aren’t so friendly. All of the agents I see are decked out in olive drab uniforms and look like they’re ready for trouble. They look more like military than public servants. The U.S. and Canada are supposed to be friends. I don’t think our guys are being very friendly.

Maybe there was something about Cedella Roman that looked suspicious?

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The big question is not why they stopped her, or even why they arrested her–but why she was held in detention for two weeks.

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Sadly, that might be explained by her picture.

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This doesn’t help, either.

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Her problem was that she was neither Canadian nor American. Even after the US wanted to release her, Canada wasn’t sure they would take her. Technically, she should have been released to France and their consulate should deal with it, but she wanted to go back to Canada.

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I don’t understand the duration of her detention either. Surely she was able to provide contact info for her mother, whom presumably could bring her documents (chief among them a passport even to get to Canada from France, presumably) and back up her story.
Shit, she was visited by her mother while in detention!

I can understand if she scaled a border wall, or in some way defied clearly marked boundaries, but according to her, there was no indication that she was crossing into the US. WTF?

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This is why I have zero tolerance for zero-tolerance policies. It takes away the possibility of thoughtful, intelligent discretion. What a stupid waste of time, money, resources and good will it was to hassle this woman.

I see this in airports all the time with the idiotic security procedures we’ve inflicted upon ourselves, and to a certain extent, I think it is a factor in the air rage events that keep occurring. When we have a system designed to be as unfriendly and unforgiving as possible, it’s no wonder people snap.

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Except she didn’t snap. (I know you know that, but someone who didn’t read the article might think it.)

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Thanks - if it wasn’t clear, I was referring at that point to people who lose it on airplanes or going through TSA. Not to say I necessarily excuse people acting crazily, but I do think the heavy handedness of the systems we have in place is a factor.