March 30,2025
Canadian citizens born in Iran and Afghanistan now face a US entry ban due to stricter border policies under the Trump Administration.
According to the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail, at least some Canadian citizens born in Iran and Afghanistan have been denied entry to the United States after undergoing intense questioning at the border.
Immigration lawyers and consultants have voiced concerns over these incidents, urging the Canadian government to issue a travel advisory. They warn that Canadian citizens may face not only entry bans but also the cancellation of visas, Nexus cards, and potential detentions or deportations when attempting to enter the US.
The increased scrutiny at the US border comes after President Trump signed an executive order January 20 that imposes tighter examination of foreign nationals. Although official statistics on the number of Canadian citizens denied entry are not yet available, lawyers confirmed that the frequency of these incidents has risen since the executive order was signed.
The Globe and Mail report highlighted specific cases since that time, citing immigration lawyer Melissa Babel, who described two Iranian-Canadians who were recently denied entry.
According to Babel, both individuals, who had lived in Canada for decades, were questioned closely about their military service in Iran. US border agents asked them to provide proof that they had never served in the Pasdaran, which is a concern due to the US designation of the Pasdaran as a terrorist organization.
One of the men, who frequently traveled to the US for business, was denied entry and later found that his Nexus card—used for expedited US border processing—had been canceled. The other man, traveling with his Iranian-Canadian wife and Canadian-born daughter, was also refused entry.
Several years ago, service in the Pasdaran was ruled to disqualify a man from entry into the US. But after it was explained to US immigration that many Iranian draftees are assigned to the Pasdaran and that Pasdaran members are not all volunteers, that rule was supposedly modified.
