Global Affairs has added information to its website for Canadians travelling to the United States.
Updated on Friday (March 21), Global Affairs still lists the U.S. as taking normal security precautions, but entry and exit requirements have been added. Canadians and other foreign nationals visiting the country for periods of longer than 30 days must be registered with the U.S. government.
Global Affairs says failure to comply with the registration requirement "could result in penalties, fines and misdemeanor prosecution." It adds that travellers should consult the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website to determine if they need to register with the service, and how to do so.
The direction follows U.S. President Donald Trump's Jan. 20 executive order, "Protecting the American People Against Invasion." The order directed the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that non-U.S. citizens or nationals over the age of 14, who will be in the country for 30 days or longer, must apply for registration and fingerprinting.
Earlier this year, a Yukon-born woman had been held for nearly two weeks in a U.S. detention centre was detained at the Tijuana border crossing in Mexico heading into the States. Her visa was denied and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained her.
She was eventually released on March 14 and flew back to Canada.
– With files from Talar Stockton/Local Journalism Initiative
