Posted on 02/07/2026 7:39:03 AM PST by 11th_VA
A Toronto man who recently self-deported from the United States says he was told to do so after an off-duty U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer noticed his Canadian passport in his wallet at a pet store.
Henry Cortez had been living in Las Vegas for five years, but his visa had expired more than a year ago, he told National Post in an interview.
He hadn’t gotten round to renewing it. That suddenly became a problem when he went into a PetSmart in the city’s Summerlin suburb to buy supplies for his cat, Smokie.
A stranger noticed the Canadian passport he carries as identification, and joked: “You’re from Canada, eh?”
“And then after that, I paid for my stuff, and I said, hey, thanks, have a nice day. And he goes, ‘Hold on a second.’ And then he shows me his badge.”
The man, Cortez says, was “an off-duty ICE officer,” and he wanted to look at Cortez’s papers.
“And that’s when I knew that I was in trouble,” he recalls. Cortez says the officer gave him two choices: self-deport, or be detained if he was spotted again. He took the first option.
National Post has reached out to ICE for more information. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently reported that 1.6 million illegal immigrants self-deported during the first eight months of this year...
Cortez, who once worked as a bouncer, is looking for work and hoping to get a position as a Canadian Border Services Agency officer trainee in Newfoundland, where his daughter lives with her mother.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalpost.com ...
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Id say it “suddenly” became a problem the day it expired.
Nice win !
My Canadian wife has been here for 28 years. She always has her green card with her.
“Cortez hopes to get a position as a Canadian Border Services Agency officer trainee in Newfoundland”
He already took his first class in Las Vegas...and flunked.
If he didn't leave the US during that time, he actually overstayed at least four years, but likely 4.5 years.
Every other country would have thrown his ass out, even before it had been a week after it expired.
All assets and income from the time they were here illegally should be confiscated.
Then, penalties on top.
Detained if spotted again was the magic words this entitled Canadian understood.
He apparently didn’t pay attention to election 2024.
Too busy living entitled in this country.
ICE agent did the illegal alien a solid. Way better to self deport if you’re in the US illegally.
Very.
I agree.
Good idea.
It costs the USA much less as well.
Self-deportation is the preferred option.
Yup.
He was really kind.
Too kind in a nation with a closed border and declared invasion, but he was ‘off duty’, so I’ll let it slide.
This time
:)
“He hadn’t gotten round to renewing it.”
Just the type of entitled slacker this country needs.
> Hope the agent got overtime …<
He should get a split of the $3000 cash Cortez got from self deporting.
EC
Suddenly? Nothing sudden about a document expiring. What did he think “expiration date” meant?
Things that didn’t happen.
What’s holding her back from obtaining citizenship?
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