Canada issues U.S. travel warning

WASHINGTON (CNN Elise Labott) — Canada issued a travel advisory this week urging Canadian citizens born in Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria to consider avoiding travel to the United States.

The advisory, released by the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday, was in response to U.S. legislation passed after the September 11 attacks authorizing the Immigration and Naturalization Service to monitor the entry and exit of citizens from those countries.

Such monitoring allows those individuals to be photographed and fingerprinted.

Canada considers the regulations “discriminatory” and “unfriendly,” a Canadian official told CNN.

The government of Canada warned “Canadians who were born in the above countries or who may be citizens of these countries to consider carefully whether they should attempt to enter the United States for any reason, including transit to or from third countries,” the advisory said.

It also warned Canadians that the increased activity may lead to delays at U.S. immigration checkpoints.