U.S. CBP sued for lack of transparency in issuing lifetime bans to cannabis workers

Emma Spears - thegrowthop.com Posted 5 years ago
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is being sued for refusing to release policy documents that pertain to its authority to issue lifelong bans from entering the U.S. to workers in the Canadian cannabis industry.

Seattle-based law firm Davis Wright Tremaine LLP filed suit against the agency in Washington federal district court last week. Current partner and former U.S. attorney John McKay, working alongside associate Chris Morley, assert that CBP has failed to acknowledge a request made to access records relating to “policy or practice of denying foreign nationals entry to the U.S. due to their involvement with cannabis businesses in the U.S. and abroad.”

 

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The firm is the sole plaintiff in the suit, saying that citizens have a right to know how the rules are being enforced, and that different points of entry seem to be operating under different rules.

“CBP’s refusal to produce documents responsive to the FOIA requests has hampered the firm’s ability to participate as an informed citizen and to adequately represent its clients,” McKay and Morley wrote.

Despite the federal legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada last year, the U.S. continues to classify the drug as a Schedule I narcotic. As a result, legal Canadian industry workers visiting states where cannabis is legal for business purposes can encounter major issues at the border.

Canadians in the cannabis industry wishing to enter the U.S.  are left to choose between lying about their involvement, which can result in a lifetime ban from the country, or disclose their association and risk being classified as drug traffickers, which can also lead to a lifetime ban.

 

Davis Wright says they hope to increase the transparency around who has the authority -and under what circumstances- to issue a ban.

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