October 30, 2004

• That is wack.
• This is certainly pretty crazy, but what kind of person believes that they magically acquire citizenship by merely living somewhere? This just goes to show that Americans are educated stupid.
• considering she's lived most her life in Canada, I'd say this goes to show that stupid people exist everywhere, not just America. She didn't get stupid as a result of her citizenship.
• Yeah, but she only moved there when she was 15. The rot had already set in. What did the Jesuits say about giving them kids up to 7? /half-joking
• Hmm...the whole comment about the Jesuits didn't come out the way I intended. Child molestation was not on my mind when I wrote it! Honest.
• It's unfortunate, certainly, but it is the law. In this case it's simply the length of time she was an illegal alien that makes it news, not the fact of the law. When you tell the friendly folks at the border that you are a Canadian citizen you better have the paper to back it up. Having said that, I wonder about the SIN she obtained. A driver's licence is one thing, but according to the Canadian Government website she should have had to prove her citizenship to get one. That's been the rule for ages. Somebody screwed up issuing her a SIN or someone scammed the government to get her one.
• The border is 3000 miles long. Is there a razor-wire fence? Minefields? Search towers? What's stopping her from just strolling across? Who's going to check after that? Is Canada just doing this to piss off America, or have they developed the recently-discovered 'American Logic Deficiency (ALD)' too? ALD= "something must be done! {spurious behaviour} is something! {spurious behaviour} must be done!
• Wondered how she got a SIN card without citizenship as well. Goes to show, never assume anything, ask questions. I feel bad for her but on the other hand she did have 25 years to find out. Like fuyugare said can't expect, nor assume, just because you've lived somewhere for X amount of years that citizenship is automatically granted. Chaz there are 6 or 7 border crossings in BC, most are located in the Lower Mainland/Washington State and the other 2 or so are in Idaho, where she was trying to cross over is in the middle of nowhere. I thought about that too, why didn't she try another border crossing? Unless they flagged her name or there was some personal reason to not try another crossing. The Customs guys are just following procedure. If a person answered A to question 1, proceed to question 3 etc. Further in the article it made mention that her daughter can apply for permanent resident status on her behalf, more than likely some immigration lawyer will step forward and help them out.
• What's stopping her from just strolling across? Who's going to check after that? Canadian immigration authorities? The law in general? Her family? Living as an illegal, a fugitive now that she knows? If you have heard of this you can be sure the authorities in Veron, BC have. Is Canada just doing this to piss off America? Like America gives a shit about Paula Jacobs. Give me a fucking break.
• A story about the Canadian border needs to include a couple of paragraphs about Sept. 11th? Oh how I love local reporting..
• "He told me if I tried to enter Canada, I would be charged and put in jail. And I could never be able to enter again." Add him to the list of custom agents I hate. It's one thing to be an inflexible bureaucrat, quite another to be a bully asshole. The woman has four Canadian children, three of them minors - no court would be stupid enough to jail her on bogus charges of illegal residency.
• You don't need to be a citizen to get a SIN, just a permanent resident.