Twin Cities Indymedia Journalists and others were harassed at a border crossing on Wednesday on their way to Quebec City.

Early Report on Quebec City Stuff

A group of minneapolis and st paul area folks were detained today at a border crossing on their way to Quebec City.
A couple of twincities indymedia journalists were among them.

They were attempting to cross at the Sault Ste. Marie crossing in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. At approximately 9:45 Wednesday morning, they were stopped by Canadian immigration officials who profiled them based on their age and appearance.

The group said they were going to camp and might go to Quebec City. The border guards proceeded to search everything they owned. They photocopied everything from address books to indymedia press passes to the homework assignments of a law student.

They seemed to be quite excited when they found a number of books about the environment, two by Vandana Shiva, and a couple of bandanas in one of the bags. They were also suspicious of some twin cities indymedia shirts they found.

Based on those findings, they denied the group entrance to Canada because they were militants heading for Quebec City and lied to immigration. The group said they did not at any point lie to the immigration officials and in fact told them up front that they may go to Quebec City.

The border guards responded that they had absolute discretion in saying who can / cannot cross the border. When asked, they said that appealing the decision was possible, but not at this time.

It appeared to the group that they were locked out because of their indymedia affiliation. At one point, a member of the group commented, "You'd let us in if were from NBC" to which the officer responded, "But you aren't NBC."

The group is going to meet up with others in New England and will provide us with further coverage when possible.