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Leopards on Patrol at the Canadian Border [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-07-11

From Daily Beast:

Chris Landry, 46, a Canadian national with five children who are American citizens, has lived in New Hampshire his entire adult life. He’s had a green card since 1981. He couldn’t vote, but he was a big supporter of Donald Trump: “I was definitely all for 'Make America Great Again,' and having a strong, unified country, and a bright future for my five American children.” The cover photo on his Facebook page, posted the day after the 2024 election, depicts a giant red wave breaking over Kamala Harris.

That’s all changed.

Landry had taken three of his children to Canada on their annual vacation. They had done so for years without incident, but this year, things changed. It seems that Landry had misdemeanor marijuana possession convictions in 2004 and 2007 for which he paid a fine and received a 60-day suspended sentence. The first conviction was for a marijuana pipe that was found in his car; the second was for ¼ ounce of marijuana found in the car in another stop two years later. When Landry tried to return to the U.S. this week at a Maine border crossing, he was detained for three hours and questioned about his earlier convictions. Then he was told his green card had been revoked and he would be arrested if he tried to return to the United States.

I was up here visiting my father, my grandmother and the rest of my extended family like I do every year, sometimes multiple times a year. I always cross through the same port of entry, with zero issues. They scan my Green Card, ask me basic questions and send me on my way. That was not the case this time around. They explained to me that because I have two of them [misdemeanor convictions], the law states I am no longer eligible for re-entry, So, basically, after waiting and being told I was likely going to be able to go home, the supervisor came out said, ‘Listen, we’re going to do you a favor and we’re going to turn you back around to Canada and we’re not going to detain you today, but if you come back to the border we will detain you immediately.” Landry is now staying with his family in Canada. He’s not sure what’s going to happen next, but he’s making arrangements for his children to return to the U.S. where his partner lives with the other children. Landry now says: “I feel a little differently. I’ve been torn from my family. My life has been disregarded completely. I never expected that I wouldn’t be able to go back home. It was scary. I felt like I was being treated like a criminal. A misdemeanor shouldn’t be a deciding factor on the rest of my life.” When asked about the incident, the Customs and Border Patrol released a statement:

Possessing a green card is a privilege, not a right, and under our nation’s laws, our government has the authority to revoke a green card if our laws are broken and abused. Lawful Permanent Residents presenting at a U.S. port of entry with previous criminal convictions may be subject to mandatory detention and/or may be asked to provide additional documentation to be set up for an immigration hearing.

Some people mistakenly believe that Trump’s immigration dragnet is only a threat to dark-skinned people crossing at our southern borders and if you’re white with an “American-sounding” name, you’re not in danger. That’s what Chris Landry thought until last week.

Wrong. The leopards are on the prowl everywhere.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/7/11/2332868/-Leopards-on-Patrol-at-the-Canadian-Border?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web

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