Now wouldn't that be a real "hoot!"

Good Day Readers:

According to a recent Globe and Mail assessment of the the Ford family wealth their holdings include three condominium properties in Florida.

Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk

Ford could have trouble crossing border for Winter Classic: Lawyer

Shawn Jeffords
Thursday, November 28, 2013

Mayor Rob Ford leaves his office after another long day at City Hall on November 15, 2013. A throng of media, hecklers and a handfull of supporters saw him off ... (Stan Behal/Toronto Sun)

TORONTO - Unated States Customs and Border Protection officers could put a snag in Mayor Rob Ford’s plan to go to the NHL Winter Classic in Michigan on January 1, a Toronto-based immigration lawyer says.

In fact, they might have something to say about all of his future travel into the United Sates said Henry Chang, an immigration lawyer at Blaney McMurtry.

Chang said Ford’s televised admission he smoked crack cocaine and the subsequent media firestorm could cause serious problems for him when he tries to cross the border. Ford will need to do that to see his beloved Toronto Maple Leafs clash with the Detroit Red Wings at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on New Year’s Day.

“Under the law, (immigration officers) are supposed to bar, or at least ask him, because they’re now aware of it,” Chang said. “Everybody in the world knows that Rob Ford smoked crack cocaine. For you to not ask as an immigration officer is a little strange if you know he’s committed an act that should bar him.”

The United States can bar a person from entering the country for admitting to using a controlled substance to a border guard.

Ford’s televised confession is not like a criminal conviction but an admission to a border guard would be, Chang said.

Much will depend on the officer he gets on the day he drives up to the border, he said. Will that officer want to be the man or woman who barred Ford, with all the subsequent media coverage that comes with it?

“The officers may be told in advance, ‘’Look there is no formal admission. Don’t ask and let it go,’” Chang said. “Theoretically, it could happen. They don’t want to be the one to get into the papers for barring Rob Ford.”

But at some point, someone may decide they want to take a crack at Mayor Ford.

“Let’s say they don’t ask him the question this time,” Chang said. “A year from now ... a guard could say ‘I remember you ... and you admitted publicly that you smoked crack. If that’s true we can’t let you in. We’re going to question you on this. They could do it at any time. They’re supposed to do it now. If he gets in on this trip that doesn’t mean he’s home free for the rest of his life.”

American Customs and Border Protection offices were closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday but representatives have said in previous media reports that they will not comment on individual cases.

If Ford is barred from entry into the United States, he will be tied up the bureaucratic red tape he so hates any time he wants to travel south. He will have to apply for a “non-immigrant waiver” which takes approximately six months and expire in five years.

“It will be a problem in the future for him,” Chang said. “Let’s say 10 years from now, let’s say he’s been barred, he wants to go to his condo in Florida, the waiver is only temporary.

Request for comment from the mayor’s office was not returned by press time.