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posted by martyb on Thursday August 17 2017, @05:45PM   Printer-friendly
from the can't-get-past-your-past dept.

A Canadian woman was issued a lifetime ban from entering the U.S. after officials searched her unlocked smartphone, found an email to her doctor about a fentanyl overdose she survived, and asked her questions about her past drug use:

A British Columbia woman was issued a lifetime ban at the US border after officials found an email with her doctor about a fentanyl overdose she survived a year ago.

Chelsea, 28, whose last name is being withheld due to fears that it could affect future employment, answered a series of questions about drug use while attempting to cross the Washington-British Columbia border. She said her phone, which didn't have a password, was searched for about two hours. During questioning after her phone was searched, she admitted to using illegal drugs before, including cocaine.

At the US border, the searching of electronic devices, including smartphones, is allowed as part of inspection. Warrantless searches on phones are also allowed at the Canadian border—a practice defense lawyers are trying to end.

"It was super violating—I couldn't believe they went into my sent emails folder and found something from a year ago that was addressed to my doctor," Chelsea said. "It was really humiliating, and it felt terrible having to bring that up."

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently released a one-page security assessment of the U.S.-Canadian border that identified drug smuggling (including cocaine and fentanyl) as well as "unidentified [Canadian] homegrown violent extremists" as security challenges:

The drugs that are commonly transported into Canada from the United States are cocaine and methamphetamine. Ecstasy, fentanyl and marijuana are smuggled into the U.S. from Canada.

[...] "This report identifies several areas where we can improve border security — especially in combating drug trafficking and preventing potential acts of terrorism," Katko, R-Camillus, said. "Stopping the influx of drugs coming into our country through the northern border is of particular concern, given the heroin and opioid epidemic plaguing central New York."


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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 17 2017, @08:17PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 17 2017, @08:17PM (#555541)

    Chelsea, 28, whose last name is being withheld due to fears that it could affect future employment

    OK. We will deny employment to every applicant named Chelsea. You cannot beat us. We are HR. We are in charge. You are expendable.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 17 2017, @08:42PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 17 2017, @08:42PM (#555556)

    To be fair, anyone called Chelsea is likely to be a few sandwiches short of the full picnic and was probably conceived in Essex by half-siblings unaware of their close genetic relationship after several pints of wife-beater. I'd go out on a limb and further wager that they are from the Dengie and drive a Ford with blacked out windows, lowered suspension and one of those stereos you can hear from Kent.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 17 2017, @09:47PM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 17 2017, @09:47PM (#555581)

      Or it could be Chelsea Clinton...

      • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 17 2017, @11:29PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 17 2017, @11:29PM (#555620)

        Or Chelsea Manning.

        • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Friday August 18 2017, @06:50AM

          by maxwell demon (1608) on Friday August 18 2017, @06:50AM (#555744) Journal

          Shouldn't that be Chelsea Womanning? Seems the conversion was not complete!

          --
          The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
      • (Score: 2) by VLM on Saturday August 19 2017, @03:20PM

        by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Saturday August 19 2017, @03:20PM (#556373)

        Not really seeing that as an "or" relationship.

        I was listening to a history podcast about Nicolae Ceaușescu and his family and the podcasters were far too polite and politically correct to compare them to the Clinton crime family, but I'm not, so I will, and it is pretty funny how its hard to tell who's copying who. I mean the Clintons are pretty much Ceaușescus and vice versa in several funny ways. Politically similar authoritarian arrogant petty country bumpkins with a overdose of entitlement and degeneracy. Their spawn is going to be messed up.