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I selected this news item because...

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A Vancouver woman is afraid to try to enter the United States after she was held for hours without reason and eventually denied entry at a border crossing - a situation immigration lawyers say is becoming more common.

Software developer Jaklyn De Vos had planned to visit her godfather in Seattle, Wash., in April when she and her partner were brought in for questioning at the Sumas border crossing in Abbotsford, B.C.

After nearly five hours, a border patrol officer told her she was denied entry and that she would need a visa - something not normally required for Canadians at land border crossings - to enter the U.S. again. With no criminal record or history of problems entering the U.S., De Vos said she can't understand why she has not been given an explanation. The denial didn't apply to her partner, but the two decided to turn around and return to Vancouver.

"I have friends and family in the states that I'd like to see, so it's definitely frustrating not to be able to do that or have any information about it," De Vos said.

She also said nearly three hours into the ordeal, the border guards asked to see her and her partner's cellphones and wallets.

"It just seemed easier to comply," she said. "It was kind of a scary situation, anyway, being detained for so long."

'Definitely something in the water'

Lawyers say they have seen an uptick in the number of Canadians being denied entry, or even being banned from crossing into the U.S.

"There's definitely something in the water right now.... We are seeing unusual denials and unusual requests we haven't seen in years prior," said Mark Belanger with Border Solutions Law Group.

Belanger said the easiest thing for people to do in situations similar to De Vos's is to refuse their own entry.

"That's technically a withdrawal of your request for admission, and they will release her back into Canada," he said, even if someone is held for questioning.

Belanger also said there are a number of options for recourse.

"You can apply for an actual visa at the U.S. consulate here in Vancouver, and at the interview for the visa, you can ask questions about your case and find out some information," he said.

Belanger also recommended filing a complaint on TRIPS, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) traveller redress program. De Vos said that also led to a dead end.

"I just recently ... noticed that my case said closed on it, but I still haven't received any letter," she said.

A spokesperson for the CBP acknowledged the increase of "expedited removals" from the U.S. and said it was not due to policy changes or quotas within the department.

De Vos goes to the U.S. regularly to visit friends and family and has never had trouble entering the country before, but April's ordeal has her reconsidering those plans. She has not attempted to visit the country since then.

"It's definitely hard especially being so close to the border. We like to go down to go skiing and enjoy the nature there," she said. "I don't really want to get detained again."

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U.S. border guards detain Canadian woman for 5 hours, refuse entry without visa | CBC News

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A Vancouver woman is afraid to try to enter the United States after she was held for hours without reason and eventually denied entry at a border crossing - a situation immigration lawyers say is becoming more common.

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Citizens rely on the news media to deliver THE FACTS. Because I value TRUTH - as opposed to the phenomenon of "fake news" - I was alarmed at the reporting about a confrontation between teens and a Native American man at the Lincoln Memorial this past weekend. Additionally, because I value MUSIC as important part of our culture, this story sparked my interest; if I understand what happened correctly - and there are many confusing versions of the story to consider - it seems that music may have played a role in preventing a potentially violent situation.

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Updated January 21, 2019 18:07:21

A video picked up by media at the weekend showing young male students wearing Make America Great Again (MAGA) caps surrounding and drowning out a Native American elder does not reveal the whole picture.

Social media lit up when footage circulated online of the confrontation at a rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.

The video showed a young student in a red MAGA cap standing directly in front of elder Nathan Phillips, who was beating a drum and singing after an Indigenous Peoples March.

Other kids, many wearing hoodies from the all-male Covington Catholic High School, circled the group of Native Americans, laughing and chanting before joining the drummer's singing in a seemingly mocking tone.

One congresswoman later said the teens showed "blatant hate, disrespect and intolerance".

Full video of the event shows the missing context of what actually happened to spark that moment:

The teens were there for a pro-life rally

The Kentucky high school students had taken a road trip to Washington to attend a pro-life rally, which was happening at the same time as the Indigenous Peoples March.

They were waiting, as a group, outside the Lincoln Memorial for their bus to come and pick them up and there were still many other people around, including the Native Americans and a separate small group of people calling themselves Black Israelites.

Black Israelites, also known as African Hebrew Israelites, believe they are descendants of the ancient tribes of Israel and mainly follow the teachings of the Hebrew Bible.

Abuse from the Black Israelites sparked the drama

The Black Israelites had a spot on the steps where they quoted from the Bible and yelled abuse, some of it racist.

"You got all these dirty-ass crackers behind you with a red Make America Great Again hat on," one of the Black Israelites said in video of the event filmed by another of their members.

Later, the man told another person: "I bet you're a dumb-ass Puerto Rican."

He also abused African Americans nearby.

As the abuse continued, the school students surrounded the Black Israelites and started to sing songs, dance and cheer each other on, drowning them out.

At one point in the video one of the black men told the students around him: "You got on the back of the court system 'In God we trust', on the back of the dollar bill it says 'In God we trust', but you give faggots rights."

Many of the students reacted, saying things like "woah" and "easy", and one started to blow raspberries to the laughter of other students.

That's when elder Nathan Phillips got involved

The students huddled for a moment and then broke out in a school chant.

The student in a red MAGA hat at the centre of the video, Nick Sandmann, later released a statement published by CNN in an attempt to explain what happened.

"Because we were being loudly attacked and taunted in public, a student in our group asked one of our teacher chaperones for permission to begin our school spirit chants to counter the hateful things that were being shouted at our group," he said.

That's when Native American elder Nathan Phillips and several others with him approached the two groups and tried to get between them.

Footage does not show students seeking out Mr Phillips, or "attacking" him.

This is the moment the confrontation happened, from a different viewpoint:

Nick Sandmann said Mr Phillips locked eyes with him and approached.

"He played his drum the entire time he was in my face," he said.

"I never interacted with this protester. I did not speak to him. I did not make any hand gestures or other aggressive moves. To be honest, I was startled and confused as to why he had approached me.

"We had already been yelled at by another group of protesters."

Mr Phillips later told Detroit Free Press the students were "in the process of attacking these four black individuals".

He said things kept escalating and he saw one member of the Black Israelites spitting at the students.

"So I put myself in between that, between a rock and hard place," Mr Phillips told the media.

The students continued the chants they had already begun and they, and others nearby, surrounded the Native Americans and filmed with their phones.

"I'm so confused," one of the students yelled as the drumming continued and many of the students dropped their chants and started to sing along with Mr Phillips while laughing.

Did they chant 'build that wall'?

Mr Phillips later said he heard the students saying "build that wall, build that wall".

But Nick Sandmann said he never heard any student chant anything other than the school chants.

"I did not witness or hear any students chant 'build that wall' or anything hateful or racist at any time. Assertions to the contrary are simply false," he said.

After Mr Phillips finished and left, the teens and Black Israelites continued to antagonise each other until buses arrived for the students and they cheered and rushed off.

"Go home, understand America will burn," the Black Israelite speaker yelled after them.

After videos spread online, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington and Covington Catholic High School issued a joint statement apologising to Mr Phillips and said they would take "appropriate action, up to and including expulsion" against the students involved.

"We extend our deepest apologies to Mr Phillips," the statement said.

"This behaviour is opposed to the church's teachings on the dignity and respect of the human person."

Nick Sandmann said he had provided his statement to the diocese and was willing to cooperate with any investigation.

Topics: donald-trump, world-politics, race-relations, community-and-society, united-states

First posted January 21, 2019 14:08:14

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Here's the missing context behind the video of students surrounding a Native American drummer

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Updated January 21, 2019 18:07:21 A video picked up by media at the weekend showing young male students wearing Make America Great Again (MAGA) caps surrounding and drowning out a Native American elder does not reveal the whole picture. Social media lit up when footage circulated online of the confrontation at a rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.