Canadian citizen Manpreet Kooner was on her way to a day spa in Vermont when she was stopped at the US border. The 30-year-old Montreal resident, who works at a science lab, was held for six hours before being denied entrance into the US.
Kooner, who was born and raised in Canada by parents who come from India, was told she needed an immigrant visa. The two friends she was traveling with, both white, did not have a problem.
"I'm speechless," Kooner said to CBC news. "There are no answers."
According to CBC:
Kooner's story is the latest in a string of recent tales involving Canadian travellers scrutinized or turned away by U.S. border agents.
Last month, for instance, a woman from the Montreal suburb of Brossard said she was denied entry after being fingerprinted, photographed and questioned in detail about her religion and her views on Trump.
Kooner was reluctant to attribute her situation to racism, but said friends who have reached out to her say that could be the case.
"People have said we need to take that into account here, because unfortunately, yeah, my skin colour is brown," she said.
This actually wasn't the first time Kooner was stopped at the border. Last December she was pulled over at the border for a random check, and then turned away because of a computer problem. She was allowed in the US the following day. Her mother was also turned away last summer, without any apparent reasons.
Kooner says the idea of crossing the border now makes her sick.
Read the full story here.
Photo: Jeff Nelson
