Amir Abolhassani sold his house in Saskatoon when his US-based employer asked him to move to North Carolina. But at the Calgary airport this January, his family was not allowed to cross the border.
The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer told Abolhassani, who is a Canadian citizen, that this was due to his time as a recruit in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) more than a decade ago. The family was subjected to secondary vetting, which included a lengthy interview and extensive searches of their belongings, mobile phones and social media.
“It’s like we’re not Canadian and our lives, our suffering, don’t matter to anyone,” Abolhassani said.
“Am I not Canadian enough? The stress of being associated with a terrorist organization is the worst thing.”
Amir Abolhassani says he wants Canada to clear his name and the names of other former conscripts. (Submitted by Amir Abolhassani)
The Trump administration designated the IRGC as a terrorist organization in 2019. Abolhassani said all men in Iran over the age of 18 must undergo mandatory service in one of the army’s branches.
“One in three Iranians will be assigned to the IRGC because it is one of the largest branches of the military.”
Abolhassani said refusing conscription would prevent a man from obtaining a passport or access to civic amenities and could sometimes result in additional punishment.
“I know about 500 cases, almost 150 are Iranian-Canadians and others are Iranians facing the same situation.”
CBC News spoke with 15 Iranian-Canadians, all Canadian citizens, who continue to be stopped and detained while crossing into other countries because their names have been flagged as people who have aided a terrorist organization. All say they feel treated like second-class citizens.
“The officer said my wife can’t go to the US either because she might have received military training from me. This is catastrophic,” Abolhassani said. “For two months of training, I held a weapon for three days. I just shot four bullets in my life. A typical American teenager might have shot more.”
The families of #StopConscriptsTravelBan
—@AbolhassaniAmir
“We’re not real Canadians yet”
Worried about losing his job, the 41-year-old applied for a US visa, but is worried because he knows some people have been waiting for US visas since 2019.
“We’re not real Canadians yet. Once you are flagged at the US border, your name goes on a list that, when you travel to or from Canada and any other US ally, you will be flagged,” he said.
Mariam Ghassemi, a research assistant at the University of Waterloo, was scheduled to begin a new research position at Augusta University in Georgia on August 1. When Ghasemi went to the Rainbow Bridge border office in Niagara Falls, Ontario, in May to apply for a TN Visashe was denied.
Ghasemi said Homeland Security officers searched her family’s social media, then escorted them to their car without giving any reasons.
“A CBP officer told me that having a country passport does not give me nationality. She said my background was something else and that I wasn’t Canadian. That was really rough,” she said.
Mariam Ghassemi said her family received a letter of inadmissibility to the US without further explanation. Many Iranian-Canadian CBC spoke with shared similar letters. (Submitted by Maryam Ghasemi)
The family received a letter of inadmissibility to the US without further explanation and was asked to check with the consulate in Toronto to get approval. An officer later told her it was because her husband had served in the IRGC.
“The university has decided to postpone my position until next semester. But if the visa process fails, I will lose the position. The future is not clear for us.’
Canada transfers responsibility to the US
Ghasemi, like many others, contacted members of Parliament and the Prime Minister’s Office, only to be told it was not Canada’s responsibility.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) told CBC News in an emailed statement that while it is aware of cases of Iranian-Canadians being denied entry to the US and other countries, it has no internal mechanism to track them.
“The CBSA does not have any power or authority to interfere with immigration decisions made by other nations,” the statement said.
Global Affairs Canada shared a similar response.
“As a sovereign nation, the United States retains the prerogatives to determine eligibility and entry screening procedures for foreign nationals,” a spokesman said.
But Iranian-Canadians like Abolhassani and Ghasemi say it’s largely a Canadian problem.
“We feel like second-class citizens. I thought Canada would support us, but we’re not very important. It’s a shame,” Ghasemi said.
“We want the government to stand up for us because they can decide it if they want to, like they did with the Muslim ban. No one is taking action.”
Like many others, Mariam Ghasemi has repeatedly contacted members of Parliament and the Prime Minister’s Office only to be told that this is not Canada’s responsibility. (Submitted by Maryam Ghasemi)
CBC News reached out to the US Department of Homeland Security and CBP for comment, but did not hear back before publication.
4S on boarding card
Iranian-Canadians with prior military service in the IRGC often receive a “4S” designation, which stands for Secondary Security Screening Selection, on their boarding passes.
Javad Mokhtarzadeh, a business owner in Montreal, said that on a recent trip to Europe, his family was screened upon arrival and when they returned to Canada, their boarding passes showed 4S.
Javad Mokhtarzadeh says that even other people accompanying a former conscript are subject to a secondary “4S” vetting process. (Submitted by Javad Mokhtarzadeh)
“The police are talking to us like we’re not Canadian citizens. You gave me citizenship [and] my daughter was born here. I told my five-year-old daughter, it’s part of the game when you go past airports,” Mokhtarzadeh said.
“It was so frustrating and infuriating that they asked my little girl to put her hands up for a body inspection and take off her shoes. In my country they treat me this way and ask me if I have something to hide.’
Calgary resident Kamran Farzamfar said the problem even affects Canadian-born Iranians of Iranian descent.
Farzamfar’s family of four visited the US several times before 2019, both for vacation and work. But when they went to the airport for their first holiday since the pandemic last February, they were refused entry.
“I tried to ask the policeman if they could at least let my sons have a break, but [they] refused us entry that day,” Farzamfar said.
Calgary resident Kamran Farzamfar says he doesn’t understand why his Canadian-born son can’t travel to the U.S. or other countries. (Submitted by Kamran Farzamfar)
A few days later, the family tried again to allow their sons to come on the trip.
“My son, who was born here, was refused entry. This problem affects not only Iranian-Canadians, but also Iranian-Canadians,” he said.
On another occasion, when returning from Frankfurt, a friend accompanying Farzamfar was also given a 4S designation as they were on the same booking reference.
“Zero rights as a Canadian”
Toronto resident Samin Kalhor tried to enter the US with his girlfriend, who had just received Canadian citizenship, her mother and two small dogs. They planned to celebrate Thanksgiving with family.
All three were stopped at the Buffalo border.
“They took my phone, credit cards, searched my car and even my dogs. For five hours, they collected biometrics, fingerprints, retinal scans and copied all data from my phone, including social media,” he said.
“My girlfriend, whom I had known for two months, was also denied entry.
The couple suffers the same fate when they travel to Mexico for the New Year’s vacation.
Kalhor said he was interrogated for seven hours in Cancun, in a glass-walled room with other “bad guys.”
“All the passengers passing by could see me sitting there as if I had done something wrong. They asked questions about my religion, sexuality and everything you can imagine,” he said. “It was probably one of the worst days of my life. I’m a very confident person but it crushed me.”
Kalhor said he came to Canada to make a better life for himself, but feels stuck. He said the problem will affect more Iranian-Canadians as travel increases.
“If I want to plan my honeymoon, where do I go? Wherever I go, I’m going to be tagged. It’s forever,” Kalhor said.
“I have zero rights as a Canadian. If other countries put the IRGC on their lists, we are doomed.”
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