‘Every country is sovereign and able to make its own rules to admit people,’ a government spokesman said after several Canadians were denied US entry

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

US authorities are entitled to search mobile devices owned by Canadians seeking to cross the border, a Canadian government spokesman said on Saturday.

Canadians traveling to Women's March denied US entry after sharing plans Read more

Several Canadians traveling to attend Friday’s inauguration of Donald Trump as president or Saturday’s protest march in Washington were turned away at the border earlier this week.

One group was held for two hours and made to unlock and hand over their mobile phones for inspection before ultimately being denied entry.

One of the group, Sasha Dyck of Montreal, told the Guardian: “We said we were going to the women’s march on Saturday and they said, ‘Well, you’re going to have to pull over’.”

Each member of the group was photographed and fingerprinted, before border agents first told two French citizens they had been denied entry to the US and would need a visa for any future visit.

“Then for the rest of us, they said, ‘You’re headed home today’,” Dyck said. The group was also warned that if they tried to cross the border again this weekend, they would be arrested. “And that was it, they didn’t give a lot of justification.”

In a statement emailed to Reuters on Saturday, Scott Bardsley, press secretary to Ralph Goodale, Canada’s public safety minister, said: “When entering another country, including Canada, it has always been the case that goods accompanying a traveler may be searched to verify admissibility.

“Every country is sovereign and able to make its own rules to admit people and goods to manage its immigration framework, health and safety.”

Hundreds of thousands of people attended the Women’s March on Washington on Saturday, a crowd far larger than that which attended the Trump inauguration, with thousands more marching in cities across the US. Around 150,000 marched in Chicago and events were also staged in cities around the world.

Relations between Canada and the US are under scrutiny following the election of Trump, who has vowed to put “America first” and renegotiate a trade agreement with Mexico and Canada.

The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, spoke to Trump on Saturday, about trade and to congratulate him on his inauguration, according to the prime minister’s office.

“The prime minister and the president reiterated the importance of the Canada-United States bilateral relationship, and discussed various areas of mutual interest,” a statement read.

“The prime minister noted the depth of the Canada-US economic relationship, with 35 states having Canada as their top export destination.”