It appears that all of those billions of dollars for Homeland Security has paid off. The Administration has nailed two Canadians on our shores and protected the nation from the Maple Leaf hoard. Jason Haist took a rather novel way to sneak into the country: he almost drowned himself. The man who tried to rescue him was also arrested. After being released from a hospital, Haist sits in own of our jails awaiting a hearing before an immigration judge.

Haist and his girlfriend left Queenston on two Jet Skis after confirming with U.S. officials that they could explore the waters near Niagara Falls so long as they did not dock. Haist, 28, however, lost control of the ski and was pulled under before various witnesses. His couisin tried to save him without success and he was pulled under. He washed on to the shore unconscious. His cousin, Edward Haist, 21, went to his side. Both were arrested, though the U.S. government was kind enough to allow Jason to be hospitalized to clear the large amount of water in his lungs.

Supervisory U.S. Border Patrol agent Jason Ciliberti insisted that this is all proper and right and sees nothing wrong with holding the men at the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility until they can appear before an immigration judge: “They’re here illegally.” Well, I guess that wraps it up. After all, Jason had helped himself to all of that American water in his lungs. He is lucky that he was not charged with theft.

I am curious, however, whether Ciliberti routinely arrested airplane survivors blown off course or other criminal elements.

The men may have to wait three weeks for a hearing and the world has yet another story to use in the portrayal of the country as run by a group of circus-reject clowns.

What makes their claims more persuasive is that no rational Canadian would want to sneak into the United States. With the economy crumbling, the value of the dollar crashing, unemployment rising, and crackdown on civil liberties, you would have to be unconscious to want to wash up on this side of the border.

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