Thu, Sep 15, 2011
Record-Sharing With US Includes Mentally Ill Travellers
Looking back on ten years since 9/11, it's obvious that if
you've had an encounter with the police in your home country, you
might expect some difficulty in getting cleared to board a flight
to the US. But what if that encounter was over a suicide attempt,
years in the past, or some other symptom of mental illness which
was not a threat to anyone but yourself?
CBC News in Canada reports there are at least a dozen or more
such cases, according to Stanley Stylianos, program manager at
Canada's Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office. He adds the office
has received many more calls from Canadians who haven't yet
experienced such problems with US Customs, but are worried they
might when visiting south of the border.
One case on record is that of 65-year-old Lois Kamenitz of
Toronto, who took an overdose of pills in an attempt to end her
life back in 2006. Police were called, Lois was saved, and says
she's made efforts over the last four years to recover from anxiety
and depression. In any event, she notes suicide is not a criminal
offense.
But when she tried to board a flight to the US from Toronto, she
faced a four-day delay, and a $250 charge to get a note from a
doctor approved by US Homeland Security, before she was allowed to
make the trip. DHS Spokesman Brad Benson says now that she has the
note, she shouldn't have any further problems traveling to the
US.
But CBC notes that 9.6 million other Canadians have similar
records on file with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which means
US bureaus now have direct reciprocal access to those records. Lois
Kamenitz says the government is "obviously not considering what the
impact of that can be and how much that can alter a person’s
life."
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