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I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

300 points proberts | 1 comments | 14 Mar 25 14:39 UTC | HN request time: 0.218s | source

I'll be here for the next 6 hours. As usual, there are countless possible topics and I'll be guided by whatever you're concerned with but as much as possible I'd like to focus on the recent changes and potential changes in U.S. immigration law, policy, and practice. Please remember that I am limited in providing legal advice on specific cases for obvious liability reasons because I won't have access to all the facts. Please stick to a factual discussion in your questions and comments and I'll try to do the same in my responses. Thank you!
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jjmarr ◴[14 Mar 25 15:07 UTC] No.43363348[source]▶
Can a TN classification denial result in immigration detention? If so, how can I mitigate that risk?

For context, a Canadian woman recently tried to enter into the USA from Mexico and get TN-1 status. Instead of refusing her entry, officials detained her and she's been stuck for 10 days waiting for deportation.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-canadian-woma...

It's unclear to me how big of a risk this actually is for the average "Canadian goes to the USA" story because of her specific factual scenario. Presumably I don't want to enter from Mexico, but is it advisable to take flights from a TSA preclearance airport in Canada so I'm not actually in the USA if the classification is denied?

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canucktrash669 ◴[14 Mar 25 15:12 UTC] No.43363415[source]▶
She crossed overland. Imagine you do pre-clearance out of a Canadian airport. Can they kidnap you out of country and ship you to a US detention center?
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walrus01 ◴[14 Mar 25 15:51 UTC] No.43363817[source]▶
Canadians may be often unprepared and shocked how aggressive and militarized the southern border is, compared to crossing at northern border land entry points.
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cmrdporcupine ◴[14 Mar 25 18:59 UTC] No.43366001[source]▶
I rarely find the pre-clearance process to be all that nice when compared to internal clearance. When I traveled a lot to NYC I far preferred to fly out of Toronto island and do immigration at Newark vs flying out of Pearson. The tone was entirely different.

I personally am not sure that pre-clearance should even continue given current diplomatic tensions. Having an armed foreign police force from a country whose official head of state says it wants to occupy you... doesn't seem wise.

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YZF ◴[14 Mar 25 21:44 UTC] No.43367627[source]▶
It varies. In recent years (last decade or so) YVR has been pretty good. Historically there were ups and downs.

I doubt a few immigration officers with handguns (can't say for sure they even carry them or carry them out of the airport) are going to take over BC.

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1. cmrdporcupine ◴[14 Mar 25 22:34 UTC] No.43368023[source]▶
It's not that I think they're some sort of potential foreign occupation force. It's just oddly symbolic and weird, and their powers to detain people, etc. seem entirely problematic in the current context.