A Windsor man is stranded in Jamaica and out thousands of dollars following a dispute with U.S. customs.
James Knight was set to go on a tropical cruise with a dozen family members only to be turned away at Toronto's Pearson Airport when trying to fly to Florida.
Knight says he was given no reason from U.S. customs officers and rather than ruining the trip, decided to fly to Jamaica to join his family on the cruise there — and that's when he says things took a turn for the worse.
Shortly after arriving in Jamaica, Knight says he received word from the cruise line stating it had been contacted by U.S. customs and told not to let him board the ship.
Knight says he has no criminal record in the U.S. or Canada, but did have ties to a motorcycle club in the past that he's no longer affiliated with.
He says it's tough to understand what's happening.
"I don't know who to talk to or who to even contact because anytime I try to get an answer from anybody I'm just told to call another number which, in turn, calls somebody else. I'm stuck in another country with no one to even answer simple questions."
Knight says he just wants some answers.
"I said, "Why am I getting denied?" and the border guard just smiled and said, "It's above my pay grade." I said, "Can I speak to a supervisor or someone who can tell me?" and he said "No." If it's something so simple we could solve this very quickly, but nobody wants to give any answers."
He's hoping others aren't in the same situation.
"There's got to be more people that are in my situation. I'm just one person, essentially, going up against the U.S. border security who don't want to tell me anything anyway. It's more frustrating because I know I'm not trying to hide a criminal past. At least tell me why I can't go in and let's try and work on that."
Knight says he made the best of a bad situation spending the day with his family when the cruise ship docked in Jamaica.
He says Jamaican authorities have been nothing but helpful in assisting him with accommodations and transportation.
Knight is unsure what his next step is going to be, but plans to seek legal advice when he arrives back in Canada.