America issued new immigration rules for long-term visitors from Canada.
Canadians staying in America for over 30 days must now register with the federal government.
This new rule will apply to Canadians over 14 years old, and they will also have to submit their fingerprints.
The rule takes effect on April 11.
After this new rule took effect, Canadian Snowbird Association Executive Director Michael MacKenzie wrote to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem seeking clarification.
MacKenzie said he represented over 1 million Canadian snowbirds who travel to America annually.
“It is our position that this executive order relates to unlawfully present individuals currently in the United States and should not apply to Canadian tourists visiting the U.S. for vacation purposes,” the executive director said on Wednesday.
“We would ask that you please provide clarification on whether Canadian citizens, who are admitted to the United States as temporary visitors for 30 days or longer and are not issued an electronic Form I-94, are required to register with USCIS,” he added.
Border Patrol’s website describes a Form I-94 as “needed by all visitors except: U.S. Citizens, returning resident aliens, aliens with immigrant visas, and most Canadian citizens visiting or in transit.”
America’s new immigration rule affects Canadians as Canada and America are putting tariffs on each other.
Before Trump took office, he threatened Canada with a 25 percent tariff if it did not help with border security. Ultimately, Trump delayed those tariffs.
However, Trump imposed 25 percent tariffs on global steel and aluminum imports, which will affect Canada.
America gets 40 percent of its aluminum imports from Canada, which is the most in the world, according to The National Post. Last year, Canada gave America 3.2 million tons of aluminum.
These tariffs were enacted on Wednesday, and Canada issued retaliatory tariffs on America.
Canada issued a 25 percent tariff on over $20 billion in American goods.
These tariffs will go into effect on Thursday.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at [email protected]. Follow Zachery on Twitter @zacheryschmidt2.
