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Golfing Grandpa Gets Teed Off At US Border
Pubdate: Wed, 27 Sep 2006
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 The Province
Contact: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Joey Thompson
GOLFING GRANDPA GETS TEED OFF AT U.S. BORDER
Decades-Old Pot Fine Forces Regular Visitor To Reverse At Crossing
Golfing hound Wayne Kimberley was practically a regular at the
Aldergrove, B.C.-Lynden, Wash. border crossing near his Langley home.
The 48-year-old construction worker figures he's entered the U.S. by
car or plane at least 60 times since the 1970s, usually to indulge
in more than one round of golf at his top tee in Maui.
But the warm welcomes ended a week ago when armed U.S. border guards
pulled him aside, took his mugshot and fingerprints and sent him in
reverse with a warning not to show his face on the U.S. side again
- -- unless he wanted his car seized and his butt in court.
The culprit, Kimberley told me, was a 28-year-old fine for
possessing marijuana seeds and a fingernail-size wad of hash -- a
badge of honour for youth back in the era of flare pants,
psychedelic shirts and Country Joe and the Fish. But a mark of
disgrace today for the grandpa who wants to shop and enjoy his
favourite sport in a security-jittery country.
Kimberley said he was fingerprinted and photographed at the Lynden
crossing at a cost of $70 US. He was told he could send in $265 with
an application for a waiver that, if approved, could grant him
passage into the U.S. for between a year and five years, depending
on the whim of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
He'd also have to turn himself in to Canadian RCMP for similar
identification procedures at an additional cost of $70. They'd have
a decision in four to six months.
All that for a mothballed misdemeanor that was taken care of at the
time with a $250 fine.
"God bless America! How many times must you pay for one mistake?" he
wanted to know.
"Why, at my age, do I need to be fingerprinted by the FBI and RCMP?
I have broken no laws.
"I could see it if this had happened a few years ago but it's been
three decades. Meanwhile, I've raised three children, have six
grandkids and buried my wife of 20 years."
Border patrol officials contacted by phone denied that Kimberley was
a victim of tougher enforcement of documents required under the
US-VISIT program set up after 9/11. The program exempts most
Canadians -- with a few exceptions -- from having to scramble for
documents other than a driver's licence and birth certificate.
There's been no change in policy, they said, even though the Bush
administration has decided to exert more muscle by installing
high-tech surveillance along sections of the Canada-U.S. border and
eventually will require we carry passports.
A Homeland Security public information specialist in Washington,
D.C., said it was a fluke that Kimberley was able to go to and fro
previously without any border hassles.
"A criminal charge, no matter how small, follows you forever," Mrs.
McCullough said. As for the previous visits, sheer luck shielded him
from arrest and deportation.
And if you think obtaining a Canadian judicial pardon is the ticket,
forget about it. Neither country is impressed with the other's.
"A pardon doesn't do anything," a lethargic on-duty border guard
said flatly. "He just got lucky those other times."
Kimberley swears he's had enough with the U.S.: "Europe is looking
really good right now."
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