Q&A | Planning a cross-border trip? This immigration lawyer has some advice amid political instability

Crossing the border for a quick trip or even a day of shopping is not uncommon for New Brunswickers, with Maine just next door.

But with the ongoing instability of Canada's relationship with the United States, some residents are thinking twice.

Some of the unease comes after a B.C. woman was detained by U.S. immigration officials for nearly two weeks, after trying to enter the country from the Mexico border. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told CBC News that the woman was detained for "not having legal documentation" to be in the U.S.

And earlier this month, a Halifax music duo said police pulled them over on an Ohio highway and accused them of having drugs in their rental car before searching the car and asking the women, "Which do you prefer? Canada or America?" The Guernsey County Sheriff's Office told CBC News that the media coverage of the incident is "false reporting and hate mongering."

Blair Hodgman, an immigration lawyer and a Canada-U.S. dual citizen, spoke with CBC Radio's Information Morning hosts Jeanne Armstrong, Jonna Brewer and Emily Brass. 

Her firm, Allen and Hodgman, has offices in Chester, N.S., and Cleveland, Ohio. 

The questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity.

Q: What rights do you have at the U.S. border?

A: You really don't have any rights at the U.S. border.

Your only right might be to withdraw your application for admission, because once you're at the land border, you're in the United States.

They have the right to question you, they have the right to search you, including body cavities, and including your cell phone and your laptop. They could even try to they could even ask you for your passwords, even for the cloud.

Q: What should people do when they approach the border?

A: They need to have a plan of why they're going to the States, and they need to be truthful.

If you make a misrepresentation, you're inadmissible and they'll detain you and they'll remove you from the United States, or, if they're being kind, they'll let you withdraw your application for admission. But the worst thing you can do is to tell a misrepresentation at the border.

I advise people to be sure that they don't bring any illicit drugs with them to the United States. I advise them if they had a drug conviction in the past — even if they have a record suspension or a pardon, the United States doesn't recognize that. So they could be found inadmissible and they could be removed from the United States.

Q: What if you just want to hop over the border for the day to do some shopping?

A: You should be all right with that. I mean, when you go to the United States, you have to demonstrate that you're going there for a good reason and that you're going to be returning back to Canada. 

You have to always show that you have a home in Canada to return to. … So if you're just going down and you say, 'Well, I'm just going down, I don't know how long I'm going to be there, you know, I may or may not stay for two or three months,' that that won't help you with the border.

It's a good idea to say 'I'm going shopping at this store, I'm going to be coming back to Canada tonight, or I'm just going down for the weekend,' that kind of thing. 

Q: Hasn't this always been the case — that you should be prepared for those kinds of questions if they come up? Or has something changed?

A: This has always been the case, but it's changed in the way that I think they're taking a closer look at people travelling to the states.

There's also the issue that Donald Trump has issued an executive order called [Protecting The American People Against Invasion]. And in that case, if you're going down for more than 30 days, you have to be sure that you're registered at the border. … So you need to ask at the border … to issue an I-94, which is documentation of your arrival, or you need to ask them to stamp your passport. 

Now, that applies if you're going to the United States for 30 days or longer. It can't hurt to really get that documentation, even if you're just going for a few days, just in case you end up staying longer.

Q: What's your advice to people who are either turned away or worse, you know, detained at the border for whatever reason?

A: While they're being questioned, they need to be 100 per cent truthful, and if you're truthful, they can't find you inadmissible for misrepresentation. 

They could just find you inadmissible on that occasion and that won't affect your future travel to the states, as long as you can document it properly. 

Otherwise, I advise that you talk to a U.S. immigration lawyer to understand what happened and what you can do to resolve the situation, if anything.

Q: Do you think it would just be better to postpone travel to the U.S. right now?

A: It's particularly if there's issues, such as ... if you have a drug offence or any other form of criminal history, you want to have that evaluated by an immigration lawyer. 

I just think you need to be super cautious and be truthful. That's the most important thing. 

Because [if] they don't let you in now but you've been truthful, then you can travel later.

I also tell people to be very respectful to the immigration officials that are questioning you because they have the power to make the decision. And you don't want to go there with an attitude towards the authority. You want to just be deferential and polite, and as I say, better to try another day than to be found to have made a misstatement, right?