Michel Jalbert's problems began near this spot the afternoon of Oct. 11, when he crossed from Quebec into Maine to buy gasoline at Ouellet's Gaz Bar in Estcourt Station. Staff photo by Fred J. Field
Posted on 11/24/2002 9:10:44 AM PST by fight_truth_decay
Jalbert and other locals said Cantrell is an overeager, uncompromising agent who is unfamiliar with the way things have been done in this area of the border for decades
TIMES HAVE CHANGED!!! GET USED TO IT!
Michel Jalbert's problems began near this spot the afternoon of Oct. 11, when he crossed from Quebec into Maine to buy gasoline at Ouellet's Gaz Bar in Estcourt Station. Staff photo by Fred J. Field
As far as being an sympathetic towards this luckless individual, that is easy and I am. He had no illegal intentions, he was doing a normal, routine business transaction and was nailed on a set of technicalities that he probably could not have complied with since the US Customs Post was already closed.
As far as Canada and their upset about this, they need to do a reality check! We are at war and our borders are our front-lines. The Al Quiada Millenium Bomb plot was stopped by a US Border Policewoman and not by anything done by Canadian authorities. As pointed out, we live in a different time and if the Canadians wish to retain our un-fortified border, they are going to have to accept our increased security concerns!
Furriners. What can I say?
Pookie & ME
Official US customs policy was that Canadians did not need to check in if they were simply buying gas and turning around. Was then-director Emery Ingalls wrong in instituting the policy? Was it beyond his authority? If that twelve-year-old policy had been scrapped, why not at least inform the owner of the gas station so he could tell his customers? It's always better when LEOs enforce the law to the letter, but the question is, which is law? Does a letter from a director of a goverment department constitute policy? Should the townspeople have discussed the issue with the new director once Ingalls was gone?
Also, why was the border station moved so far away from the border (in the 70s) in the first place? Why isn't it staffed 24 hours a day, or at least for as many hours as the gas station is open?
And most importantly: With the new no-tolerance policy: Why haven't they moved the border station back to the border? Why aren't Americans angry than an inspection station would be a full 1000 feet away from the border? I'm not familliar with that area, but 1000 feet to me seems like a lot of space to walk off the road and into the bush, bypassing customs entirely.
Two reasons: First, he had already filled up his car and was seconds away from being in Canada when apprehended. Second, his conviction came 14 years ago, a B&E at the age of 18.
Lets see, for 30 years that I know of, Canadians could come and go from that gas station WITHOUT checking in, AS PER A LETTER FROM U.S. CUSTOMS.
Second, having delt with Border patrol agents Chris Cantrell and Pedro Hernandez, I can only say they make a perfect pair of complete a$$holes, that should be sent back to Texas where they came from!
IN FACT MR. JALBERT HAS DONE NOTHING WRONG!
I haven't been following this story all that closely and I had no idea that you could only enter the gas station from Canada. That, to me, makes the situation even more absurd. I'd bet money that the US guards never checked in since there was an informal policy about doing business in the area located between the two border stations. For the US guards to take advantage of that while arresting someone who thought they were protected by the same policy is extremely hypocritical.
What amazes me most is that this station has operated for so many years when clearly the only reason for its existance is to dodge Canadian taxes on fuel. Not that I have anything against dodging taxes if it's legal.
No worries there, right? That orange pilon would turn them back right away! /sarcasm
He had received an apparently-legitimate government communication indicating he had permission to enter the country for the purpose for which he did. There had been no apparent attempt on the part of the government to revoke that permission. On what basis, then, do you call him an "illegal alien"?
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