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Paige Adamson was on her way home from a birthday dinner in Tsawwassen, B.C., on Sept. 15 when she was stopped at the Point Roberts border crossing and questioned about voting for hours. Lawyers are raising concerns around vulnerabilities Canadians face while living in the U.S., especially over being registered to vote.
Paige Adamson was on her way home from a birthday dinner in Tsawwassen, B.C. , on Sept. 15 when she was stopped at the Point Roberts border crossing and questioned about voting for hours.
Lawyers are raising concerns around vulnerabilities Canadians face while living in the U.S., especially over being registered to vote. The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
Paige Adamson says she was detained until nearly 3 a.m. PT and was 'basically treated like a criminal' when she attempted to cross the Canada-U.S. border at the Point Roberts border crossing on Sept. 15. Paige Adamson was on her way home from a birthday dinner in Tsawwassen, B.C. , on Sept. 15 when she was stopped at the Point Roberts border crossing.
It was a regular stop that Adamson — a Canadian citizen who has lived in Point Roberts, Wash. , as a U.S. permanent resident for 14 years — had grown used to.
"The very first thing she asked was, 'Have you ever voted in a federal U.S. election? '" said Adamson. "They immediately said, 'Park over here and come into the office. '" Paige Adamson says she has travelled across the border without issue for all of the 14 years she lived in the U.S. But recently, she faced hours of questioning after being accused of falsely claiming she was a U.S. citizen.
What happened next, Adamson said, was a nearly six-hour-long process — where she went through secondary inspection just after 9 p.m., was interrogated until after 2 a.m. and signed documents before being admitted into the U.S. One of the documents CBC News reviewed said Adamson "must surrender for removal from the United States, if so ordered.
" Lawyers who spoke with CBC News said U.S. voter registration systems can sometimes catch non-citizens up in errors, and one of them says he has seen an uptick in non-citizens being questioned in the last week. According to documents provided by Adamson, the Department of Homeland Security alleges she falsely claimed she was a U.S. citizen "for the purposes of registering to vote in Whatcom County, Washington state.
"DHS cites those allegations as grounds for removing Adamson from the U.S.But Adamson maintained during questioning, a transcript reviewed by CBC News showed, that she has never voted in a federal election and doesn't remember ever voting in a state election — though she acknowledged receiving a ballot and may have been registered. Adamson is now scheduled to appear for a hearing in Seattle, and is grappling with potentially being removed from the state she has lived in since 2012.
In the past week and a half, immigration lawyer Len Saunders said he has received calls from three people — including Adamson — about being detained at the border and questioned about voting. Saunders said three near-identical situations like this in such a short period is unprecedented in his career that stretches back more than 25 years.
The Blaine-based lawyer told CBC News there could be hundreds of Canadians facing similar issues, and expects more cases as Canadians cross the border during the holidays. Immigration lawyer Len Saunders is seen in Blaine, Wash. , on Jan. 9, 2026. He says that he's seen a recent uptick in U.S. permanent residents being questioned over voter registration.
B.C. immigration lawyer Chris Anders said border enforcement is "way, way stricter and tougher" than at any point in the last two decades. He said the databases used by border officials are constantly expanding, meaning something that did not cause problems for someone previously could suddenly pop up during a new entry.
Washington state automatically registers some eligible voters when they get or renew a driver's licence or state ID, butBut internal Washington Department of Licensing emails, obtained by the non-profit Federation for American Immigration Reform through a Freedom of Information request, "A lot of Canadians say, 'Well, I thought I was entitled to because I went in, got my driver's licence and they registered me to vote,'" said Saunders. Saunders said that in those situations, he has told clients to immediately deregister and submit a declaration saying they "unknowingly registered or unknowingly voted," and that used to be a consistent solution.
In an email to CBC News, a spokesperson for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said when a permanent resident arrives at a port of entry, officers screen their documentation against federal and state databases. The CBP says if those records indicate "potential unlawful voter registration, illegal voting, or a previous false claim to U.S. citizenship," the individual is subject to "rigorous examination and detailed questioning.
" Depending on the case, an individual may face "prolonged" immigration inspections, receive a notice to appear and formal removal proceedings, the spokesperson said. Adamson said she wasn't offered water until around the five-hour mark of her detainment, and no one asked whether she needed to use the bathroom. Arden McLeod, from Vancouver, is an associate producer with CBC News. He has a passion for community storytelling, local news, and reflecting the values of B.C.
He graduated from the British Columbia Institute of Technology's broadcast and online journalism program. You can reach him at Arden. McLeod@cbc.ca. B.C. attorney general shocked by news report that ChatGPT told Tumbler Ridge shooter how to avoid safeguards
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