Canadian Executive Has Trouble Crossing Border to go to Work

(Oliver Moore — Globe & Mail)

A Canadian senior executive planned to fly to Montreal early this morning and drive toward upstate New York, unsure whether border guards would let him into the United States.

In the tiny Adirondack community of Clifton, people were watching nervously and wondering what Scott Travers’s sudden inability to enter the country would mean for the recovery of their struggling area.

“Here we have someone that’s been a godsend and they’re keeping him out,” said town supervisor Bob Snider. “Totally ridiculous: This is someone who’s trying to help us.”

Mr. Travers is president and CEO of a Nova Scotia holding company that has a stake in the local paper mill. Closed for seven years, the mill reopened in 2007 and now employs more than 100 people and has created hundreds of spinoff jobs…

But his travels appear to have raised a red flag. He said he was warned on a recent visit that he would need more documentation and last week approached the border armed with a letter from his employer, pay stubs, character references and a completed application for a work permit.

It was not enough.

“I was interrogated ... I was fingerprinted, I was photographed, I was sent out of the country,” Mr. Travers said, adding that he has no criminal record or even an unpaid fine.

“They were convinced that I was taking a job from [an] American.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection does not discuss specific cases, but the incident sparked a sharp reaction from state politicians. Read more here.