Canadian woman refused U.S. entry because of depression

[CHIMO]

Source: CBC News

A Toronto woman denied a flight to New York as part of a cruise trip wants to know who told U.S. border agents about her history of mental illness.

Ellen Richardson says she was told by U.S. customs officials at Pearson International Airport on Monday that because she had been hospitalized for clinical depression in June 2012, she could not enter the U.S.

As a result, she missed her flight to New York City and a Caribbean cruise, for which she had paid $6,000.

U.S. border guards are allowed to bar anyone they deem a threat to themselves, others or their property. They have access to police records — including even uneventful encounters with officers — but medical records are supposed to be held in the strictest confidence.



Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/canadian-woman-refused-u-s-entry-because-of-depression-1.2444960

---

Nov 29, 2013 9:33 AM ET| Last Updated: Nov 29, 2013 2:27 PM ET

Watch out for big brother. Need a trade agreement for live humans now!

[Voice for Peace]

1. this is seriously messed up

I'd like to know more as it comes out

[warrant46]

54. She should have flown from Toronto to Havana instead

Its much more friendly there and cheaper too.

[struggle4progress]

68. What we know so far:

The publisher of her 2008 book Hope for the Heavy Heart explicitly states in the advertising blurb: In her life, she had three near-fatal suicide attempts, one of which left her a paraplegic; see also #14

In 2012, she made yet another attempt at suicide, this time by self-poisoning; and a relative called emergency services; see #62

8 USC § 1182 excludes from admission to the US any person having a mental disorder and behavior associated with the disorder that renders a person a danger to self or others; this exclusion can sometimes be waived administratively, after applying for the waiver

Exclusion of Canadians from the US, due to a history of suicide attempts, is not unknown; see #7

Barry Swadron QC, a Toronto lawyer with 50 years experience at bar, who specializes in mental health law and who has been involved in several cases of suicide-attempt-history exclusions of Canadians from the US, has pointed out that data regarding any police interactions may appear in a CPIC database which the RCMP routinely shares with the FBI; see #66

An entirely coherent account can be given on this basis, without involving any imprper release of medical data: her relative's 2012 ambulance call eventually produced a CPIC entry documenting her fourth suicide attempt, which then routinely passed via RCMP to the FBI and thence to border control, triggering her exclusion under 8 USC § 1182. She is still free to file an administrative request for a waiver

[Voice for Peace]

69. ok, that sounds like a different situation altogether

[JackRiddler]

79. Always there to justify state repression, are you?

She's a Canadian trying to transit through a New York airport to a Caribbean cruise, and she's denied transit on the thoroughly repulsive basis of discriminating against people with a history of depression. This is the U.S. taxpayers footing the bill for this nonsense. Luckily you're here to give exculpation to an essentially authoritarian, arbitrary, and pretty crazy action of the state.

She shouldn't have written about her life in her book!

Shame on you!

[struggle4progress]

81. The language of the current law seems to appear in amendments to

the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which are contained in the 1990 Immigration and Nationality Act

The 1990 language considerably improves the 1952 language, under which I think Ms Richardson might have been excludible simply for her psychiatric difficulties, which is not now the case, Ms Richardson having actually been excluded for her 2012 suicide attempt and having been advised at the border (as she admits) how to obtain documentation to appeal against the exclusion

So the law is amendable, and has been amended (repeatedly, in fact) --- and, should you now find yourself outraged by the current version, you are free to work to change it

[JackRiddler]

83. The border agents fucked over this lady.

And you have excuses for them, like you always have for every outrage large or small committed by the U.S. government, and you find it worth your while to post 20 or 30 times on this thread, as if you were a P.R. agent for the government.

[struggle4progress]

86. If the issue is worth discussing, it's worth trying to root out the underlying facts, isn't it?

[Comrade Grumpy]

92. The law is one thing; what's right is another.

[struggle4progress]

94. An Ontario group has a website devoted to this issue:

Ontario Mental Health Police Record Check Coalition
In January 2011, the Police Record Check Coalition began investigating complaints that persons with a mental health history were being denied entry to the United States ... Cases coming to our attention have involved individuals who have attempted suicide ... Police in Canada can make a record any time they are actively involved with a person ... Information entered into local police databases may be transmitted to .. the Canadian Police Information Centre ... CPIC provides to their database to .. the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency ...
http://www.mentalhealthpolicerecords.ca/crossborder

[LTX]

93. Yes indeed. Shame! The very nerve of some people -

But you might clarify a bit -- are you outraged by the actions of the customs agents, or are you outraged at having your outrage interrupted by additional factual context? It's hard to tell.

[msanthrope]

95. Soooooo stealing that....nt

[BlueJazz]

2. "she missed her flight to New York City and a Caribbean cruise, for which she had paid $6,000".

What the hell did they think she was going to do? ..Depress the passengers on the plane??


"This is your Capitan... Sorry, we can't take off until everybody is happy and cheerful"

[Posteritatis]

10. People like to assume there's this dangerous, monolithic entity called The Mentally Ill. (nt)

[rickyhall]

27. Especially

Since a big chunk congress and the media fits in that category. At least I think sociopathic personality disorder would be considered to be a mental illness.

[Posteritatis]

33. ... People also like defining "mental illness" as "anything I don't like." (nt)

[struggle4progress]

13. They may have figured there was a chance that while in the US she'd make yet another suicide attempt

[Ken Burch]

18. Oh, and they thought making her miss an ocean cruise would cheer her up?

(sorry...no disrespect to you intended...I think these customs guys were just on a power trip. And as far as I know, if Canadians are planning to kill themselves, they are no more likely to leave their own country to do it than people from any other country are. Most people don't hold off on killing themselves just because they're standing on their own home soil.)

[struggle4progress]

32. In my reading, 8 USC § 1182 places no special emphasis on Canadians: it simply says

you can be denied admission to the US if you suffer mental illness that renders you a danger to yourself or others, and it also provides an administrative remedy for such determinations

You're welcome, I suppose, to think these customs guys were just on a power trip -- but discussion, about the actual facts in this case, does at least require the actual facts. Was Ms Richardson (for example) travelling under the visa waiver program, but found ineligible for that program, as a danger to herself? If so, she can seek a visa, which might require an evaluation of her mental condition by a psychiatrist chosen from a list of approved psychiatrists. Was Ms Richardson denied a visa, based on a determination she is a danger to herself?? Then she can seek an administrative waiver of that, pursuant to regulation, with perhaps some additional conditions for her travel

I myself don't find much basis for forming much of an opinion on the topic. If I read the law, and (to the best of my ability) root out Ms Richardson's history, I don't find a glaring prima facie error: I wasn't there, and I don't know Ms Richardson, but it seems to me that someone could reasonably conclude the law applied to her case

Of course, if you find the regulations abhorrent, you can seek to change them; and if you find the law abhorrent, you can seek to change it. And maybe if you're not outraged enough to spend time trying either of those options, you aren't really very outraged

[CHIMO]

36. Thank You

For your most efficient interpretation and explanation of your laws/rules etc.

If the only thing this produces is to keep Canadian money in Canada then it will be one big improvement on the trend to create one NSA world.

The question in my mind is how did Mike end up with his data? And if the answer is he has it and he is right, then that is ones answer to the whole question. One doesn't have to get upset and get their panties in a knot!

How did Mike get the info!

And not very long ago one didn't need a passport to enter the US from Canada. Come to think of it, perhaps the best answer to NAFTA and the one border is more vigilance by everyone....

http://canada.usembassy.gov/visas/information-for-canadians/canadians-requiring-visas.html

[struggle4progress]

42. I don't see any actual relation of this to NAFTA. The question, whether US authorities received

improperly released Canadian medical data and (if so) who released it, could best be addressed to Canadian authorities: my own guess might be that the information used was obtained from various routinely-shared police reports. Of course, the Bush-era passport legislation is ridiculous: IIRC it even requires US citizens to have valid passports to re-enter the US

[CHIMO]

43. OK

Thanks for your reply.

[Swede Atlanta]

39. This is the law enforcement and administrative overreach campaign......

I appreciate the interest in trying to ensure we do not admit anyone that creates a threat to our nation or its citizens.

But this is just an administrative person with no appropriate training to make a serious determination on the eligibility of a person to enter our country.

But police and other members of the "authority" elite are increasingly flexing their insecurity by flaunting their power. We see it in the number of ludicrous accounts of excessive force, kills, etc. done by our police and other authorities. They are "high" on their power because they believe they can do anything in the name of "security".

I was recently making a routine border crossing INTO Canada to attend a week-long company planning session. I had never had an issue with this until I encountered this young woman about 23 years of age. She asked why I was entering Canada and I told her to attend meetings with developers, operations and product staff for a routine review of our annual progress, etc. She kept asking me why I needed to come to Canada to do this and I kept telling her because we were flying in 10 other people from around the world for these meetings. She was obviously either just being difficult or has no clue how business is done today.

She sent me to the Immigration office at the border. When I told the Immigration officer I was simply coming in for a meeting we have had 3-4 x a year in Canada for the past number of years he just laughed and said "she is just high on her authority". That was telling to me.

I don't doubt she thought she was asking the right questions but rather than trying to understand she just sloughed me off to another bureaucrat who understood exactly the situation.

[Mojorabbit]

41. She is a paraplegic from what I am reading below

going on a march of dimes cruise. I am sure the majority of paraplegics suffer from some sort of depression at times in their life. Denying them the chance of going on a cruise is beyond the pale. Depression is a very common condition.

[struggle4progress]

44. Yes, she's paraplegic because she critically injured herself in one of her various suicide attempts

US law contains no provision for excluding depressed persons from the country, but it does contain provision for excluding persons who suffer mental conditions rendering them a danger to themselves or others

[polly7]

45. Then why had she been allowed to travel via the U.S. three times previously

as a paraplegic?

[struggle4progress]

46. It's simply a fact that such an argument won't fly in any court. She should just seek

the waiver she can undoubtedly obtain by administrative appeal

[polly7]

47. She had no idea she NEEDED a waiver.

She'd gone through three times previously - as a paraplegic, with no problems.

She's out $6000.00 (her travel insurance doesn't cover being refused at the border) and her dream trip because she was supposed to do something she had no idea of?

[struggle4progress]

48. Of course, if she had a crummy travel insurance policy, that is an entirely separate matter,

having nothing whatsoever to do with the medical privacy violations she alleges

[polly7]

49. She 'alleges'.

And you aren't calling her a liar ........... rigggggght.

[struggle4progress]

50. As we seem to have exhausted topics to discuss, I'll just wish you a pleasant day and move along

Ciao!

[polly7]

51. Oh I got that a while ago when you refused to answer anything that didn't go along with

your authority rules! shtick.

Bonsoir!

[struggle4progress]

53. QED

[CHIMO]

52. May I

Infer that agent Mike has exhausted his/her self?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

40. The feds on both sides got themselves a "database"

What good is a data base if you don't put it to use?

This is what I said last week when the DUI case came up (people denied entry due to an old DUI).

Seriously, has there been a mass migration of criminals between our two countries (Bush administration visits notwithstanding)?

This a perfect example of a hammer seeing the whole world as a nail. The feds on both sides got themselves a neat new tool and have to put it to use. I mean what fun is having all that petty crime info at your fingertips if the feds can't wave it around and exercise their AUTHORATAH?

[struggle4progress]

73. They might have been concerned Ms Richardson would attempt or commit suicide in the US,

as she now admits border control cited "danger to self or others" considerations when excluding her; see #70

This concern could reasonably have been based on CPIC records originating from her mother's ambulance call at her fourth suicide attempt (by self-poisoning) in 2012

Suicide attempts, and actual suicides, are potentially very expensive, which perhaps accounts for the excludibility from the US of aliens under 8 USC § 1182:

suicides and suicide attempts can involve innocent passers-by, as (for example) when someone jumps from a high place and lands on someone else;

suicides and suicide attempts can produce police and emergency service response costs;

suicide attempts can produce major medical costs, as when person is critically injured in an attempt but survives;

suicides and suicide attempts can produce police investigation costs, in efforts to determine whether some crime-against-persons has been committed;

suicides will produce medical examiner costs, in efforts to determine whether the apparently obvious cause of death is the actual cause of death;

and so on

Although it seems border control was unaware of Ms Richardson's three earlier suicide attempts -- one of which left her paraplegic after she leapt from a bridge -- her exclusion from the US is consistent with the intent of 8 USC § 1182, and a more detailed knowledge of her history will (on first impression) only make her exclusion seem more reasonable under the statute. She is, of course, free to pursue an administrative waiver of the exclusion

[BlueJazz]

74. I understand but tonight 325 people will sneak across our borders and (probably)..

...have 350X the impact that this Lady would have had.

The USA is the king of "Sweat the little stuff and ignore the big threats"

Your answer does make sense though.

[polly7]

3. Sickening.

"Ellen Richardson was prevented from going on a March of Dimes organized cruise because the U.S. border agent said she was hospitalized for mental health issues in 2012 and she needed special clearance. Richardson was treated for clinical depression but she wonders how he accessed her medical records."

“I was turned away, I was told, because I had a hospitalization in the summer of 2012 for clinical depression,’’ said Richardson, who is a paraplegic and set up her cruise in collaboration with a March of Dimes group of about 12 others.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/11/28/disabled_woman_denied_entry_to_us_after_agent_cites_supposedly_private_medical_details.html

[dembotoz]

4. then how the fuck do republcan members of congress retain the ability to fly anywhere

cause those fuckers are REALLY nuts

[Posteritatis]

9. Woo, four replies before the first "mental illness = politics I dislike" post. (nt)

[struggle4progress]

5. Is she the author of "Hope for the Heavy Heart: For the War-Weary and the Heaven-bent"?

TatePublishing ...
Product description
Hope for the Heavy Heart
For the War-Weary and the Heaven-bent
by Ellen Richardson ...

Raised in a highly dysfunctional family, Ellen Richardson was diagnosed with major depression in her early 20's. Despite these challenges, she completed two degrees, including a Master of Divinity in Counseling. In her life, she had three near-fatal suicide attempts, one of which left her a paraplegic in May, 2001. Since then, she has worked as a therapist, has led group therapy, was leader/coordinator of an adult Bible class, has preached, and is currently a facilitator and speaker for the Mood Disorders Association of Ontario.

I suspect it's the same person. Here's a photo of her the Toronto Star is running:

[struggle4progress]

11. The woman denied entry does seem to live in Ontario:

... Richardson’s lawyer has reached out to Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews ...
Disabled Canadian Woman Ellen Richardson Not Allowed To Enter U.S. Because She Was Hospitalized For Depression
By Andy Kossak
Fri, November 29, 2013

Ontario's privacy watchdog is probing reports that private health information is being shared with U.S. border services ... Information and Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian ... said she's been contacted by three people who have been denied entry to the U.S. based on their personal health history. One woman she spoke to, Ellen Richardson, has gone public with her story...
Watchdog to probe reports of health info leak

... In her letter to Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner Dr. Ann Cavoukian, Gelinas said she knows of “two Ontarians” who were each “identified at the border and their health history was used to deny access.” Gelinas said Richardson is one of those people ...
Access to Canadian health files by U.S. border agency sparks demands for inquiries
The Privacy Commissioner offices in Ontario and Ottawa have received formal requests to look into the case of an Ontario woman denied entry to the U.S. because of a mental health episode
Valerie Hauch, News reporter
Published on Fri Nov 29 2013

[polly7]

12. Ummm ...yeah, it's the same woman.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=660114

[struggle4progress]

14. " ... Previous to her hospitalization in 2012, Richardson had attempted suicide in 2001 ..."

Disabled woman denied entry to U.S. after agent cites supposedly private medical details
By Valerie Hauch
23 hours ago

[polly7]

20. Apparently that wasn't a problem.

She’s been on three cruises since 2001, travelling through the U.S., and has never had a problem at Pearson with U.S. authorities.

No U.S. border agent has ever brought up the 2001 suicide attempt, including the agent on Monday who only mentioned her 2012 hospitalization, she said.

[struggle4progress]

24. Dunno. I've only heard her version of events. As I read the law, mental illness alone

doesn't result in exclusion, and (for example)simply having a mental illness doesn't even render folk ineligible for travel to the US without a visa under the existing Visa Waiver Program -- provided that their condition does not render them a danger to themselves or others

Her multiple suicide attempt history, with one attempt leaving her permanently confined to a wheelchair, might count as evidence that her psychiatric problems had in the past, and could in the future, render her a danger to herself; and I doubt any US court would examine the appropriateness of her exclusion, at least before she sought the waivers made available by law, regardless of any failure to exclude her in the past

[polly7]

25. Well of course, the 'mentally ill' woman has to be lying.

Because no way would U.S. immigration unfairly and illegally treat Canadians, right ... or send them for torture to Syria ... no shit like that at at all. It's got to be the depressed, paraplegic woman who's in the wrong.

[struggle4progress]

26. Huh? I just pointed out to you that US law makes no such presumption about the mentally-ill

even for purposes of visas or use of the visa waiver program

[polly7]

28. She's traveled through the U.S. three times successfully since 2001

and becoming a paraplegic.

On a website promoting the book, Richardson describes how she became paralyzed from the waist down after jumping off the Bloor viaduct in a failed suicide attempt in 2001. In the book, Richardson says it was one of three occasions when she tried to take her own life.

Richardson told CBC News that border guards referenced her 2012 hospitalization, and not her book, in denying her entry into the U.S.

She stated the police were not involved in the 2012 hospitalization. Either the customs officials had some report by the police of her 2012 incident, which she denies, or they somehow got her medical records.

[struggle4progress]

35. As I said, I've only heard her version of events. I have no idea what her 2012 hospitalization

involved exactly, so I think I should avoid drawing neat conclusions on the topic: whether or not she actually saw police in the course of that hospitalization may not inform us reliably about whether or not there was a police report associated with the incident

I have no idea whether or not the border decision was appropriate -- all I can say is that is does not seem obviously and grossly inappropriate to me based on the facts I know, including her history of three prior suicide attempts, one of which has placed her in a wheelchair for life

If this matter came before some court, I doubt the court would consider it relevant whether or not border control had allowed her in the country previously

I've pointed out some of her options

[polly7]

37. Why would she think this entry would be any different than the three prior

successful entries? How did they get her medical records for the 2012 incident. She said (once again) the police were not involved. Sharing medical records with another government is something everyone should be concerned about, no? When it's you that's prevented from doing something you're paid big money for and are desperately looking forward to because your medical hx is dug up illegally, maybe you'll understand how she must feel. Or not.

No, it wasn't appropriate! She was going on a cruise organized through the March of Dimes, ffs. Did those border officials think they'd be held responsible if she leapt out of that wheelchair and jumped overboard or something?

Seriously sickening.

[struggle4progress]

64. She attempted to poison herself in 2012, and a relative called emergency services, which probably

created a police record; see #62

That could explain how this entry was different than the three prior successful entries and also could explain how border officials obtained information about the suicide attempt without any improper access of medical records, since the RCMP routinely shares CPIC information with the FBI

[polly7]

65. I've taken quite a few people, actually, in to the ER for suicide attempts.

Unless, obviously, the attempt was successful, or the method used was a gun, or the pt. had been threatening and endangering others as well as themselves, had a history of violence in the home or involving others where police had responded, etc. ... police were not involved. Attempted suicide was considered not illegal here in 1972. Unless there was a court-ordered mandatory stay for her for psychiatric observation, her medical report was probably only submitted on to the provincial gov't agency dealing with mental health and suicide statistics/prevention.

Again, she stated the police were not involved. You seem pretty insistent that she's lying. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

[struggle4progress]

66. Read the link I provided: you will see the theory, that the ambulance call produced a police record

which the RCMP later shared with the FBI, is that of Toronto lawyer Barry Swadron QC, whose firm Swadron Associates "is dedicated to advocacy in all aspects of mental health and capacity law"

Swadron presumably has some knowledge of current Canadian law and practice in this area: he sports an impressive resume, having been called to the bar some fifty years ago in 1963, and he has documentably handled other cases of exclusion from US for suicide-attempt history, such as the case of Lois Kamenitz (see #7)

Of course, you are certainly free to disagree with Mr Swadron's theory, however credible that theory might seem to me, but I will urge you to abandon, as quickly as you can, your habit of putting words in other people's mouths, as unlikely to further informative and intelligent discussion. When, for example, you claim that I'm pretty insistent that Richardson's lying, you engage in pure fabrication, since I have never expressed any such opinion: I do suspect Richardson's account is inaccurate and incomplete

[polly7]

67. The 'theory'.

I'll wait until I see proof her medical information was given to the RCMP, and for what reason.

'I do suspect Richardson's account is inaccurate and incomplete.' - I don't need to put words in your mouth. You've stated it repeatedly.

[struggle4progress]

71. Well, her version is becoming more complete as time passes:

... This time, the agent cited the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, which denies entry to people who have had a physical or mental disorder that may pose a “threat to the property, safety or welfare” of themselves or others, she said ... Richardson, who has a website and wrote a book about her struggle with depression, said she has no recollection of police being involved in her 2012 hospitalization. She said she had become suicidal, wrote a suicide note and called her mother, who came over and called 911. “I wasn’t a threat to anyone, other than myself,” Richardson said ...
Accusations that private health details of Canadians being shared with U.S. border agents sparks probe
Maria Babbage
Canadian Press
30/11/13 11:27 AM ET

So now she's admitting she was denied entry for a 2012 suicide attempt, whereas she had been claiming on Thursday, she'd been denied entry due to a 2012 hospitalization for depression:

... “I was turned away, I was told, because I had a hospitalization in the summer of 2012 for clinical depression’’ ...
Disabled woman denied entry to U.S. after agent cites supposedly private medical details
A Toronto woman is shocked after she was denied entry into the U.S. because she had been hospitalized for clinical depression.
Valerie Hauch
News reporter
Published on Thu Nov 28 2013

[polly7]

72. And?

Attempted suicide is not anymore illegal than hospitalization for clinical depression. She was hospitalized, for what reason is really no-one's concern except her own.

I'll still await the facts of how the police were involved in any way.

[struggle4progress]

75. For a definitive discussion of what Canadian authorities may have shared with US authorities,

perhaps you should contact the Canadian authorities

It is now clear from Ms Richardson's latest interviews that she was excluded as a result of her 2012 suicide attempt, not as a result of her associated hospitalization for depression

And I currently see a credible explanation of how US border control might have learned about that suicide attempt by routine CPIC records transfer from RCMP to FBI, which requires no improper leakage of privileged medical information

You, of course, are not obliged to accept this explanation

If you are convinced the explanation is wrong, you should perhaps pursue the matter further with Canadian authorities

And if you find good evidence that privileged medical information improperly leaked, that will be an important and interesting story that many people will want to understand in more detail

But at present I see no reason to think anything grossly amiss here and am disinclined to pursue the matter further

[polly7]

76. Good for you.

The thought that our medical records are possibly being made available to foreign governments sickens me. I'll pursue the matter with anyone I choose to see fit ........ thanks so much for your permission.

[struggle4progress]

77. Bonne chance!

[polly7]

78. Hey .... I realize it's no biggie when you're not the one having to be concerned about it.

Let me know when yours is shared with another government to deny you some basic freedom, I'll express the same amount of compassion you did for this woman.

Which would be exactly ......... none.

[struggle4progress]

6. 8 USC § 1182

(a) Classes of aliens ineligible for visas or admission

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, aliens who are inadmissible under the following paragraphs are ineligible to receive visas and ineligible to be admitted to the United States:

(1) Health-related grounds

(A) In general
Any alien — ...
(iii) who is determined ...
(I) to have a physical or mental disorder and behavior associated with the disorder that may pose, or has posed, a threat to the property, safety, or welfare of the alien or others, or
(II) to have had a physical or mental disorder and a history of behavior associated with the disorder, which behavior has posed a threat to the property, safety, or welfare of the alien or others and which behavior is likely to recur or to lead to other harmful behavior ...
is inadmissible ...

(g) Bond and conditions for admission of alien inadmissible on health-related grounds
The Attorney General may waive the application of — ...
(3) subsection (a)(1)(A)(iii) of this section in the case of any alien, in accordance with such terms, conditions, and controls, if any, including the giving of bond, as the Attorney General ... may by regulation prescribe ...

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1182

[elleng]

30. For a TRANSIT 'Visa???'

I suspect this is not applicable to these circumstances.

[struggle4progress]

34. Canadians almost never need a visa to enter the US. It's my understanding

that visas are required in some circumstances

[struggle4progress]

7. Canadian woman denied entry to U.S. because of suicide attempt (2011)

Lois Kamenitz was stunned to learn that U.S. border officials were barring her entry.
The reason: Years ago, she attempted suicide.
By: Isabel Teotonio Staff Reporter
Published on Sat Jan 29 2011
When Lois Kamenitz arrived at Pearson International Airport in November, hoping to board a flight to California, she was stunned to learn that U.S. border officials were barring her entry. The reason: Years ago, she attempted suicide. The 64 year-old Toronto woman was fingerprinted and photographed. She questioned the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer about how he accessed her medical records. He said he didn’t. Instead, he knew police had attended her Toronto home in 2006 because she had done “violence to self” ...
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2011/01/29/canadian_woman_denied_entry_to_us_because_of_suicide_attempt.html

[struggle4progress]

8. The facts, so far as I have been able to determine, seem to be these:

Ms Richardson attempted suicide several times, and in 2001 such an attempt left her so badly injured that she is now confined to a wheelchair, a fact made public by Ms Richardson herself through the publisher of her book (see #5)

Her established history of such mental illness, as had made her a danger to herself, renders her excludable from the US under 8 USC § 1182, though this exclusion is administratively waivable (see #6)

Ms Richardson is not the only person ever to have been excluded under this statute and regulations promulgated pursuant to it (see #7)

So outrage, about US border enforcement knowledge of Ms Richardson's suicide attempt history, maybe somewhat misplaced, insofar as Richardson herself has publicized it. Questions, about whether Canadian officials improperly made available privileged medical information, are best directed to Canadian officials. However, Canada does regularly share police information with the US, so any police reports involving Ms Richardson's psychiatric-episodes may produce data for border enforcement

It is, of course, Ms Richardson's own responsibility to ensure that she understands existing US law when planning to enter the US

Those, who feel that the regulatory basis for exclusion of Ms Richardson should be modified, are free to petition the appropriate regulatory agency for amendment of the relevant regulations; and those, who feel that the statutory basis for exclusion of Ms Richardson should be modified, are free to approach Congress for amendment of the statute

Ms Richardson herself, of course, may be able to offer an entirely coherent and convincing discussion of her current status, leading to the conclusion that her inadmissibility should be waived -- in which case, she certainly ought to apply for such waiver

[polly7]

15. I guess that border agent must have read her book, and has a fantastic memory.

A personal relationship breakup in 2012 caused her clinical depression and hospitalization (there was no police involvement). But again, her condition stabilized and Richardson, who has a master’s degree in counselling, sees a psychiatrist with whom she has a very good relationship.

She’s been on three cruises since 2001, travelling through the U.S., and has never had a problem at Pearson with U.S. authorities.

No U.S. border agent has ever brought up the 2001 suicide attempt, including the agent on Monday who only mentioned her 2012 hospitalization, she said.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/11/28/disabled_woman_denied_entry_to_us_after_agent_cites_supposedly_private_medical_details.html

Yet war criminals are welcomed here. What a sad joke.

[struggle4progress]

17. Maybe. But I might guess there were police reports on her suicide attempts or on her 2012 behavior,

even if there were no arrests: such material is shared between the US and Canada

[kristopher]

16. Thank you. nt

[treestar]

55. thanks for all the research and facts

anti-government outrage is all the rage here these days. Anything will be trumped up into some type of problem.

[struggle4progress]

58. I expect there will always be more than many very good reasons for anti-government outrage;

I welcome it when it is based on thorough examination of the facts; and I especially welcome it when it involves a definite and doable action suggestion

But I am afraid my take-home message from the 1960s is that indiscriminate and reflexive outrage, without careful attention to details and without definite ideas about what-is-to-be-done quickly marginalizes those who constantly express their outrage, exhausts the listening public, making them impatient with complaints, and ultimately leads to effective complacency among the outraged (who feel they have completely done their duty by expressing their outrage) and to apathy among the public (who begin to feel they have learned no verifiable facts, have been taught no useful methods for analysis, and have been given no practical suggestions about appropriate actions to take)

[SoapBox]

19. Hmmm...looks like another one of "those" stories

that have a lot more involved, than we are privy to know about.

It's the perfect breathless article, for pot stirring.

[840high]

31. Exactly what I was

thinking.

[CFLDem]

21. Yeah that's going to help her be not depressed

f-ing morons

[Turbineguy]

22. Too bad she wasn't armed.

The NRA could have come to her rescue.

[tclambert]

23. Now she can be paranoid, too.

I'm so sorry. I couldn't help myself. It was like a compulsion or something. D'oh. I did it again. I'm trying really, really hard not to do it three times . . .

[rurallib]

29. Man I hope they find the person(s) that opened her records

and they are dealt with harshly.

[struggle4progress]

38. Maybe nobody opened her records.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

56. clinical depression is an absolutely proper response

To being paraplegic.

I don't like calling such problems "Mental Illness".

Depression, PTSD, anxiety issues are all emotionally based and feed themselves through habits or compulsions of thought.

Sometimes the causes of the emotional damage are distinct environmental events. Sometimes they're brain chemiistry imbalances.

It seems to me that there's a big difference between understandable emotional responses to extreme experiences and inability to process/respond to everyday reality.

I know that wasn't the best explanation ever; it just seems that there's an important difference between mental and emotional dysfunction.

[struggle4progress]

59. "Mental illness" alone cannot result in exclusion from US border entry: exclusion requires

a mental illness that renders the person a danger to herself or others

It is, of course, possible that paraplegia has contributed to the woman's depression, but her paraplegia is among the sequelae of her three prior suicide attempts

And this multiple history of suicide attempts, with life-long sequelae, might actually suggest to many reasonable people that she suffers mental illness rendering her a danger to herself

[BlancheSplanchnik]

60. thanks for that struggle4progress...

Proof that I didn't read the full article.

Well that puts a different light her situation.

I do still think there's a difference...not all emotional damage is mental illness, to me. But her specific case takes on different proportions with the added info.

Very sad for her, that she's in so much pain.

[liberalmuse]

57. This wouldn't have been an issue if she'd only played her cards right...

...and told them she was a pedo-rapist fugitive.

[arikara]

61. Privatization of jobs that used to be handled by provincial government clerical staff

like data entry, billing and all. In BC when they started doing that there were concerns that the foreign companies - one in particular called Accenture which has ties to Halliburton would be sharing Canadians private information with the US and and Homeland Security. Of course the government brushed them aside.

It looks like people were right to be concerned.

[struggle4progress]

62. She attempted to poison herself in 2012, and a relative called emergency services, which probably

created a police record

... Richardson admitted to being treated in 2012 for clinical depression at a Toronto hospital after a “half-hearted” attempt at suicide ...
Investigation launched of woman denied entry into U.S. for medical reasons
Dave Battagello
Nov 29, 2013 - 4:30 PM EST
Last Updated: Nov 29, 2013 - 10:07 PM EST

... Richardson had been treated in 2012 for clinical depression at a Toronto hospital, after a “half-hearted” attempt at suicide, following a relationship breakup. She says she had taken pills but then stopped, “realizing that I could not go through with the attempt.” A family member had nonetheless called an ambulance ... A previous attempt at suicide in 2001, in which she jumped off the Bloor Viaduct bridge as a result of delusions, had been more serious. That experience, which she wrote in a book published in 2008, left her paraplegic ... Sadly, it happens a lot, says lawyer Barry Swardon ... He said once information is fed into computer systems that track interactions with police, even non-criminal matters can end up being documented in the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) database. The RCMP .. shares it with the FBI in the United States ...
Access to Canadian health files by U.S. border agency sparks demands for inquiries
Valerie Hauch
News reporter
Published on Fri Nov 29 2013

[JackRiddler]

85. Punish her! Punish her forever!

Make sure she never forgets and is never forgiven for trying to kill herself!!!

Prevent her from spending an hour in transit through a New York airport!

You never know, she might spill her own blood on Amerikan soil at some point in the 59th minute!!!

Find justifications! Defend the homeland! THIS IS WHY WE PAY TAXES!!!

[struggle4progress]

87. The law, as I pointed out upthread, dates to 1952 and was liberalized in 1990

If you have specific objections to the law, you're welcome to work for alternative language

[JackRiddler]

88. The surveillance system...

That snoops into this lady's publications and marks her down for this form of persecution is probably even older.

It is no less abominable than the way this law has been enforced. Your bloodless justifications of it, completely void of a human conscience but purporting to convey the letter of the law, are no less disgusting. And banal.

Whose interest is served here? This is U.S. taxpayers' money being spent just to fuck this lady over. To prevent her from going on a cruise!

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

63. I don't think an involuntary psychiatric hold is confidential

[struggle4progress]

70. Accusations .. private health details of Canadians .. shared with U.S. border agents sparks probe

Maria Babbage
Canadian Press
30/11/13 11:27 AM ET

... She was told she would have to get “medical clearance” and be examined by one of only three doctors in Toronto whose assessments are accepted by Homeland Security, she said.

Richardson, who has a website and wrote a book about her struggle with depression, said she has no recollection of police being involved in her 2012 hospitalization.

She said she had become suicidal, wrote a suicide note and called her mother, who came over and called 911.

“I wasn’t a threat to anyone, other than myself,” Richardson said ...

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/11/30/accusations-that-private-health-details-of-canadians-being-shared-with-u-s-border-agents-sparks-probe/

[yurbud]

80. hmmm...so there's a lot of us Americans who might be refused reentry in that case

We would be labeled "mood terrorists."

"Their moping and pessimism are a serious downer and jeopardize the GMP (Gross Mood Product)"

[struggle4progress]

82. She was considered an excludible alien due to her fourth suicide attempt in 2012, not due

to her depression

[NutmegYankee]

84. A citizen cannot legally be refused re-entry.

[yurbud]

89. how long had it been since the law mattered about anything related to "national security"?

[NutmegYankee]

90. Once again, a citizen cannot be barred from re-entry.

Even if you lose your passport, you WILL get back in. You'll just have a hell of a day answering questions and waiting for them to confirm who you are.

As for mental health reporting - that's probably more a result of the mass shooting phenomenon than national security. Since nearly all mass shooting perpetrators were mentally ill, many states now require any mental health issues that have required a person to be hospitalized to be reported to the state to prevent those person's from purchasing firearms. That information goes into national database. I expect that's how this information would get out to LEOs in the USA. In this case, this record of a suicide attempt, logged in a Canadian database, was shared by Canadian LEOs with their American counterparts. We applied our law and denied her.

[yurbud]

91. I think you meant to post that as a reply to someone else or you missed my point