UK citizen detained by ICE at Canadian border

[Swammerdami]

This story from BBC surprised me. A UK citizen was denied entry to Canada for fear she would seek employment. This made U.S. Immigration suspicious when she turned around to re-enter U.S. So U.S. locked her up.

A Welsh woman has spoken about being held in "horrendous" conditions after she was accused of "violating" her visa and was stopped at the US border.

Becky Burke, 28, has spent 11 days in a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing centre in Washington State and was also denied entry into Canada, over a "visa mix-up".

Speaking to the BBC, Ms Burke said: "They keep saying in all their booklets that this is not a prison. It's hard to distinguish from my conception of a prison."
...
Ms Burke, an artist from Portskewett, Monmouthshire, began backpacking around the US on 7 January.

She had flown from New York to Portland, Oregon, where she spent time with a host family, helping with household chores in return for accommodation.

Although she wasn't paid money for the household help, she lacked a work permit so the "household chores in return for accommodation" turned Ms. Burke into an illegal immigrant.

...
Ms Burke said she was being held in a dormitory of 110 people in a "maxed out" immigration detention centre in Tacoma, Washington.

"They wake us up at 6:30am. There is never enough time to sleep. It's so cold," she said.

"I wear the same jumper for a week. They're short or out of stuff, like blankets and extra clothes. I have one towel."

She added many of the people she had met were "stuck" at the centre, separated from their families - in some cases, for years.

It was unfortunate that a citizen of the UK was denied tourist entry to Canada, despite the ancient ties of these two countries. If I were King Charles III, I would be annoyed and demand Ms. Burke's release.

At press time she was still incarcerated:

[Burke's father] said what was meant to be a life-changing backpacking trip "has turned into a nightmare".
He added: "At first she was just distraught. She was inconsolable. She is allowed to ring out using a shared iPad but we can't call her."

The dad said, as their family is not American, they cannot add money to Ms Burke's inmate account for her to buy essentials, so they have reached out to some American friends to help.

Mr Burke said his daughter just wants to come home and has asked for voluntary departure but it has been "radio silence".

The family have been told voluntary departure has to be approved by a judge, but added they do not know "how to make that happen".

 

[cycomiko]

Heard about this on the local NPR yesterday. That detention center over in Tacoma is a privately run facility that's been under investigation many times in the recent past. They drove her all the way form the Peace Arch crossing at the northern border to the Tacoma facility which is 2.5-3hrs. They could've just dropped her off at SeaTac airport on the way and told her to catch the next direct flight to LHR.

I guess whatever it takes to protect American jobs from these filthy illegals, right?

 

[TSwizzle]

Although she wasn't paid money for the household help, she lacked a work permit so the "household chores in return for accommodation" turned Ms. Burke into an illegal immigrant.

Not really. Ms. Burke appears to have broken the terms of her tourist visa, probably the visa waiver I-94 (I think). She will get punted back to the UK soon enough.

 

[laughing dog]

Good to see that ICE is going after the hardcore criminal immigrants.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

While I do agree this is totally unjustified ICE is right. Household help in exchange for accommodation is not permitted on a tourist visa. It's no more not "work" than barter is not "income" in the eyes of the IRS. Do nothing in exchange for local value while on a tourist visa anywhere! (I specify "local" because the handling of people doing remote work for parties outside the country is sometimes treated differently. Digital nomads are not always prohibited under tourist visas.)

 

[TSwizzle]

Becky is home! Yay!

A backpacker detained in the US is back home in Wales after an emotional airport reunion, her father has confirmed.
Becky Burke, 28, had been held in a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing centre for 19 days after being denied entry at the US-Canada border. Her father Paul Burke, from Portskewett, Monmouthshire, told BBC Wales "the nightmare is over" after his daughter was reunited with family and friends at Heathrow Airport earlier.

BBC