Garbage Now at Our Borders

Mexico is no longer the place for American criminals to pay a visit. Canada is now the new hot travel destination for those who are less than law-abiding. This week however has presented us with one of the strangest court rulings in US history. A Buffalo man charged with sex offenses convicted. In lieu of jail time, he proposed he spend his three year sentence in Canada with his family. The judge agreed.

Woah! Back the truck up here. A US judge actually banished a man and is putting their garbage on our doorstep? Well, it wouldn't be the first time since we get tons of pre-caught felons coming up here. However, can this Buffalo judge even legally do this?

The simple answer is black and white. No they cannot. Canada has full rights to refuse entry or remove anyone of another nationality who has committed criminal acts. I'm also pretty sure that even though this person was convicted of a crime, it's unconstitutional to kick an American citizen out of their own country. Unfortunately, this issue is not black and white. The judge made his ruling and it stands unless a higher court rules the decision to be irresponsible. So now the US and Canada are debating what to do with this man. The man is now stuck living it up in legal limbo with his family in St Cathrines. The Canadian government is deciding whether or not to deport him. They likely will deport the man because they don't want to create a legal precedent that would allow US judges to use Canada as a giant penal colony. The US is also stuck between a rock and a legal hard place because they would have to appeal the decision, which takes time.

The ideal thing to do would be to detain this man for deportation while the US goes through the process. However, we would need to seek assurance that the US would pay for his detainment. We also need an agreement that ensures that this mess will never happen again.