Canadian woman en route to Vermont spa denied entry to U.S., told she needs immigrant visa
Montreal resident Manpreet Kooner says thought of crossing border now makes her sick
By Kamila Hinkson, CBC News Posted: Mar 06, 2017 7:52 AM ET
A Canadian woman travelling on a Canadian passport says she was turned away at the U.S. border and told she needed a valid immigrant visa to enter the country.
Manpreet Kooner, 30, is a Canadian citizen who was born to Indian parents in Canada and raised here. She now lives in Montreal's LaSalle borough with her fiancé and works in a science lab at a local college.
She told CBC she was on her way from Montreal to a spa in Vermont for a day trip with two friends, who are both white, Sunday afternoon. They never made it.
Kooner said she was held at the border for six hours before being turned away.
At one point, she said, a border agent told her: "'I know you may feel like you've been Trumped,'" an apparent reference to U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trump's January executive order barring citizens from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the country was later blocked in U.S. courts, but has touched off legal battles and confusion around the world.
Kooner was told to apply for the visa at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa. She went to the embassy Monday morning but was told they couldn't help her, and that she would need to talk to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
"I'm speechless," she said. "There are no answers."
more:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/canadian-denied-entry-us-immigrant-visa-1.4011202
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