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

Posted on January 29, 2011 by Dissent

Wow. A reader sent me a link to a news story by Isabel Teotonio that is disturbing, to say the least:

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.”

[…]

It’s not an isolated incident, says Ryan Fritsch, legal counsel for the Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office. He has heard of about eight similar cases in the past year, all involving non-criminal contact between police and people with mental health issues — records of contact that end up at the Department of Homeland Security.

“These kinds of disclosures and the retention of this kind of information has a chilling effect on persons with mental illness,” said Fritsch, who fears people will think twice before calling 911. “A mental crisis should not be a lifelong sentence for stigma and discrimination.”

Read more in the Toronto Star.

As a mental health professional, the thought that this kind of information is winding up in the hands of the Department of Homeland Security is absolutely chilling.

Update 1: Jon Newton of P2Pnet.net contacted the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, who told Jon:

“Our Office has received inquiries in the past in relation to trouble that people have encountered while trying to cross the international border”, a spokesperson for the Canadian federalprivacy commissioner’s office (OPC) told p2pnet, going on:

“However, we have not had any that relate specifically to mental health issues as a justification for a denial of entry into the United States.  There have been no discussions with officials on either side of the border over this particular type of concern.”

To which I respond, “Start the conversation.”

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8 thoughts on “Canadian woman denied entry to U.S. because of suicide attempt (Updated)”

  1. Anonymous says:
    January 29, 2011 at 3:03 pm

    I am glad that this article was published as I was in the exact same boat as this poor woman. People need to know about these gross violations of our civil rights!!! I am still outraged and disgusted and looking for a way to have my information removed from the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC).

    1. Anonymous says:
      January 29, 2011 at 3:19 pm

      Have you contacted the Office of the Privacy Commissioner? I’m wondering what they might do (or not do).

      1. Anonymous says:
        January 30, 2011 at 1:54 pm

        I have requested the records regarding my incident from the Toronto Police under Freedom of Information and got a copy of the report with the CPIC case number. My next step is to contact the RCMP and request the copy of the guidelines for entering incident reports by local police into CPIC. Based on what I’ve researched all the agencies followed the law, but the question is whether the law justifies such gross invasion of privacy. I am trying to find a legal loophole to get my report removed from CPIC.

        1. Anonymous says:
          January 30, 2011 at 2:41 pm

          Please keep us posted on your progress.

          And do think about contacting the Privacy Commissioner to ask what that office can do to protect people’s information from this kind of use/misuse.

        2. Anonymous says:
          January 30, 2011 at 5:19 pm

          I just tweeted a message to the Privacy Commissioner about this. I hope she sees it because she doesn’t follow @PogoWasRight

  2. Anonymous says:
    January 30, 2011 at 10:54 pm

    I’m almost tempted to write the Privacy Commissioner myself on this issue.

    It made me mad to read this. I think of the people who went through a hard time (emotionally/mentally for a various reasons) in life. To find out that someone who over-came and lived through a suicide attempt in another country is finger-printed like an F’n criminal (excuse the language) boggles my mind. Are they taking Canadian medical history and ascertaining whether or not you are a potential suicide bomber?

    If after having lived through this and you want to bring your kids to Disney land only to be stopped and treated like a criminal, well how does that affect the person and the family?

    How would you feel towards your government for giving this private information away?

    How would you feel towards the foreign government telling you to sign over your medical history to them and pay them?

    Matter of fact, I think it would make a good blog post on their (PrivCom) website, even if touching on a touchy subject matter.

    But, as a regular Canadian sheep, chances are I will not voice my concern and opinion to PrivCom. :/ since I would feel shy and embarrassed.

    If “Outraged” does it, then I will too.

    1. Anonymous says:
      January 31, 2011 at 12:23 am

      My personal philosophy when confronted with such outrages is to try to leave things better for the next person. You might feel shy about advocating for yourself, but be the voice for the next person who will otherwise be humiliated or turned away.

      You’re never just speaking up for yourself. You’re speaking up for all those who desperately wish someone would be their advocate of champion.

      I hope both of you will not just vent and let it end there. Change it going forward.

  3. Anonymous says:
    February 3, 2011 at 5:44 am

    I read this article in the Toronto Star and was surprised at this issue. I only expected that criminal records were checked at the US border and not this information. After some research I see that individual Police departments may keep records of encounters including those under the Mental Health Act where voluntary or involuntary referral to a hospital has taken place. In most cases these should be automatically purged after a period of time but this may vary according to the policies of the local Police force. These records of contact may also turn up in background checks for work or volunteer positions. The best advice for someone who ma face a similar circumstance is to do a search themselves with any Police Department where records may exist then find out the policies on retention and purges. It is better to remove these files before they are discovered and recorded in the US. Those records can never be erased once entered.

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