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(AP) - Another side effect of the
post-9/11 security mindset: Americans who used to enter Canada with
a wave and a few friendly questions are finding themselves stopped
cold by their youthful indiscretions.

      For some time, a drunken driving conviction was enough to deem a
foreigner "inadmissible" because the crime is a felony in Canada.
But until recently, experts say border agents were less likely to
find out about a foreigner's drunken driving record, either because
they didn't ask or because they didn't have extensive criminal
history databases to check.


      It's affected people like Bob Hohman, 54, a computer
network security analyst from Roseville.

      After two drunk-driving offenses in the 1970s, Hohman said he
quit drinking. He had no qualms about disclosing the convictions in
2004 on a questionnaire at the Canadian border station in Walhalla,
N.D., where he and his brother tried to cross on the way to an
annual goose hunt.

      "When the border agent saw these entries, he informed me that I
would not be allowed to enter Canada," Hohman said. "I was kind
of astonished," Hohman said. "I was like, 'C'mon, all of a sudden
I'm not worthy to be in your country?'"

      Undeterred, Hohman said he and his brother drove to a different
border crossing, didn't mention his record and crossed "without
further incident."

      Others who get tripped don't press ahead.

      Some fishing parties who have had a member denied entry into
Canada have wound up at the Thunderbird Lodge on the U.S. side of
Rainy Lake, said Mary Jane Haanen, co-owner of the lodge.


      "You hate to benefit from the misfortune of a business in
Canada," Haanen said. "But at least we've been able to help them
salvage their trip."

      Lucy Perillo is president of Canada Border Crossing Services, a
Winnipeg-based company that helps foreigners confront paperwork
required to get permission to enter Canada with even a minor
criminal record.

      "The number being denied (entry) is increasing, and it's
directly related to more questions being asked," Perillo said.
"If you have a DUI or you wrote some bad checks or shoplifted or
smoked some pot, you're probably going to need a (special) permit
to come into Canada."

      The Canadian government denies claims it is turning away more
Americans.

      "We haven't seen an increase in individuals found
inadmissible," said Derek Mellon, a spokesman for the Canada
Border Services Agency, who didn't provide statistics supporting
his statement.

      "The requirements to enter the country have not changed,"
Mellon said. "We continue to welcome millions of American
travelers every year to our country."

      As part of a 2003 agreement known as the Canada-U.S. Smart
Border Declaration, Canada and the United States are developing
shared databases of criminal history data on each other's citizens,
in the name of anti-terrorism.

      Canadian immigration officials say would-be visitors with minor
records can be provisionally admitted. That's done by paying about
$200 in U.S. money for a temporary permit, or paying the same amount
and following a months-long process to "rehabilitate" their
record permanently.

      Randy Kutter of Princeton said he's gone down that road -- only
to find frustration.

      He had drunken driving offenses in 1981 and 1986, and was denied
entry in the fall of 2005, while trying to cross into Canada at
Baudette on a fishing trip.

      To get in, he said he paid about $240 for a one-time visitors
permit, and then put down more money later to start rehabilitating
his record -- a process requiring copies of the original charging
documents.

      "I then spent two days running around to different courthouses
and found there were no records left," Kutter said. "I eventually
gave up."

      Kutter added, "Now I do not admit to being arrested when I
cross the border, but it is very stressful."
      

Gallery

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Crime, Law and Justice

Another side effect of the post-9/11 security mindset: Americans who used to enter Canada with
a wave and a few friendly questions are finding themselves stopped cold by their youthful indiscretions, including drunk driving arrests from years earlier.

Canada's crime view keeps some Americans outside, looking in

Go Deeper.

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