Blaine resident Dean Keley is trying to figure out why his NEXUS card was revoked earlier this year when he was coming back from visiting his parents in White Rock.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol gave no reasoning as to why his card was taken, and Keley has spent the last few months reaching out to U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen’s office about the ordeal.
“There’s no transparency, they won’t tell you why,” Keley said during a Ferndale town hall that Larsen hosted this month.
However, a recent court decision from a federal appeals court in California may help people like Keley discover why their cards were removed.
NEXUS is part of the federal Trusted Traveler Programs and allows for easier crossing at the U.S.-Canada border — so long as the person has gone through an extensive pre-screening process that includes an online application and an in-person interview.
A similar program, called SENTRI, enables expedited crossing at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The federal appeal court ruled in May that people whose SENTRI cards are revoked without explanation can request a judicial review to explain why their card was taken. The case stems from an incident in 2018 when Jacobo Jajati’s SENTRI membership was revoked after his ex-wife, with whom he’d had little to no contact in the past five years, was arrested at the border with methamphetamine.
Jajati then filed a written request asking why his membership had been revoked.
The notice revoking membership stated that Jajati didn’t meet the guidelines for the program, according to the decision. His membership was later reinstated but then revoked again, and he never received a reason why. He brought the lawsuit against CBP in 2022.
A federal district court dismissed the plaintiff’s claim stating CBP had discretion in the way that it ran the program. Jajati filed an appeal which led to the appeals court ruling in a 2-1 decision that an explanation could be given through court order.
In explaining why the court ruled the way it did, the majority wrote the regulations that guide the SENTRI program are sufficient enough for a judge to review if CBP abused its discretion.
The dissenting judge, a Trump appointee, wrote the decision could create a judicial “henpecking” and could hinder CBP’s job at the southern border.
It’s unclear if the SENTRI ruling will apply to NEXUS revocations. Officials with CBP did not return a request for comment from Cascadia Daily News.
Greg Boos, an immigration attorney in Fairhaven, said in his reading of the ruling it indicated NEXUS revocations were subject to judicial review.
Meanwhile, Keley is working with Larsen’s office to get an explanation as to why his NEXUS membership was revoked.
“It’s a nonstop effort to try to get some clear reasons why any one card is pulled,” Larsen said.
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
