Friday, December 11, 2009

Um ... what?


I'm not sure what's going on here:

Dr Peter Watts, Canadian science fiction writer, beaten and arrested at US border

My friend, the wonderful sf writer Peter Watts was beaten without provocation and arrested by US border guards on Tuesday. I heard about it early Wednesday morning in London and called Cindy Cohn, the legal director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. She worked her contacts to get in touch with civil rights lawyers in Michigan, and we mobilized with Caitlin Sweet (Peter's partner) and David Nickle (Peter's friend) and Peter was arraigned and bailed out later that day.

But now Peter faces a felony rap for "assaulting a federal officer" (Peter and the witness in the car say he didn't do a thing, and I believe them). Defending this charge will cost a fortune, and an inadequate defense could cost Peter his home, his livelihood and his liberty.

Here's the part I don't get (emphasis added):

Hugo-award-nominated science fiction author Dr. Peter Watts is in serious legal trouble after he was beaten, pepper-sprayed and imprisoned by American border guards at a Canada U.S. border crossing December 8. This is a call to friends, fans and colleagues to help.

Peter, a Canadian citizen, was on his way back to Canada after helping a friend move house to Nebraska over the weekend. He was stopped at the border crossing at Port Huron, Michigan by U.S. border police for a search of his rental vehicle.

Why would he have been stopped by U.S. border police on his way back to Canada? I've driven into the U.S. many times and, on the way back, the only issue is dealing with Canada customs. Since when do American border officers have the right to stop and search you as you're leaving that country? I'm confused.

13 comments:

Southern Quebec said...

Welcome to the post 9/11 world! I live in a border community and am back and forth on a weekly basis. Recently, as I approached the border, (coming home one night from Doggy Obedience Class) I could see lots of flashing lights. This is a real tiny border crossing -- two guys in a booth basically. As I approached, I noticed that the road INTO Canada was blocked with a big red plastic cone. I stopped, and two US customs officers approached me and told me to shut my engine. I did and then they told me they would like to X-ray my car. I told them that there was a dog in the vehicle, and they said, "Take the dog and get out of the vehicle." We got out of the car and this real nondescript vehicle slowly drove past my car X-raying it! About 5 minutes later, they walkie-talkied the Customs Agents and I was good to go!

CC said...

In all the times I've driven into the U.S. and driven back, I've never run into that or even seen anything like that. Weird.

CC said...

I'm still unclear on the jurisdiction issues here. By way of comparison, if you're flying to the U.S. from Canada (say, from Toronto), you need to clear U.S. Customs first. But there's generally a large sign telling you that, if at any point you don't want to co-operate with U.S. Customs, you're free to turn around and return unhindered to Canada. (Technically, since you've never really left Canada, there's nothing they can do.)

So if you're a Canadian citizen trying to return to Canada, and you arrive at a border crossing, and you're stopped by American officials who want to search your car, what's the legal justification? On what grounds can they demand to search you when you're trying to leave the country?

I'm still confused.

Southern Quebec said...

In my situation, where they stopped me was still on American soil -- 50 feet in front of Canada Customs.

CC said...

Oh, I understand that you're technically on American soil. I still don't get how searching someone as they're trying to leave the country somehow contributes to national security.

Ti-Guy said...

I'm sure this has all been cooked up as a result of the supposedly defunct Security and Prosperity Partnership initiative.

They can't build a wall soon enough, as far as I'm concerned.

Southern Quebec said...

My guess is that they were looking for something that say "glows in the dark" leaving US soil. The same thing happened the next night to another person I know...

What I would like to know, is: Is this an illegal search? I guess the ACLU could answer that.

liberal supporter said...

Customs have jurisdiction over anything crossing the border in either direction. They were probably looking for something requiring an export license. For example, the numerous hand guns being smuggled in here.

They are quite concerned about the smaller crossings being used to smuggle stuff or people.

liberal supporter said...

There was a recent case of a guy in Toronto importing pressure transducers with a final destination of Iran's nuclear facilities. A dual use technology.

chris said...

IMO he's lucky they let him go. You can't reason with something called the Department of Homeland Security. they make the rules, you obey. Or else.
Here are Peter Watts' own words.

Ti-Guy said...

Gee, I wonder if Amy Goodman will cover this in light of her OUTRAGEOUS delay by Canadian border guards a few weeks ago when they had the nerve to ask her...an American...questions.

double nickel said...

Ti, they grilled her about whether or not she planned to speak about the Vancouver Olympics. When did that become an issue for our border gestapo?

Renee said...

CC, they now have "constitution-free-zones" 100 miles inside the US border where the border police claim jurisdiction (with mixed successes in US courts). They set up "immigration" checkpoints before the actual border crossing, and they're becoming increasingly common when approaching a US border from within the US.

Unlike real borders, you do not have to comply with requests for searches at these checkpoints (however, you might also get punched in the face, because the law doesn't mean anything to Hired Goons.)

http://www.checkpointusa.org/blog
http://www.flexyourrights.org/faq