[HN Gopher] British tourist detained by US authorities for 10 da...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       British tourist detained by US authorities for 10 days over visa
       issue
        
       Author : n1b0m
       Score  : 145 points
       Date   : 2025-03-10 18:32 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.theguardian.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.theguardian.com)
        
       | morkalork wrote:
       | Second time today I read about this kind of story:
       | https://www.10news.com/news/team-10/it-is-like-jail-german-m...
        
       | vvpan wrote:
       | I am starting to understand why "Abolish the ICE" has been a
       | slogan, sounds like a cesspool of heavy-handed extra-judicial
       | lawlessness. Another key slogan phrase: Do not open for the ICE.
        
       | moralestapia wrote:
       | The story is missing an important detail, I'm not assuming malice
       | btw, why was she refused entry into Canada as well?
       | 
       | Edit: Lol, there's literally nothing wrong with this observation.
       | HN has truly gone down the gutter. I know not everybody here is
       | part of the hivemind but the few that are completely spoil the
       | experience for everybody else.
        
         | rdtsc wrote:
         | That's what I was confused about. I was thinking my add
         | blocking maybe cut out a paragraph from the text at first.
         | 
         | > Canadian authorities told her to go back to the US and fill
         | in new paperwork before returning to cross into Canada.
         | 
         | If it's not mistake, and the article is complete, it sounds
         | like the reporter skipped some important details about what
         | Canada did. Hopefully an honest mistake.
        
           | dmix wrote:
           | Canada has been cracking down on their border for the last
           | year as well since the student worker controversy. It says:
           | 
           | > She was planning to stay with a host family where she would
           | carry out domestic chores in exchange for accommodation and
           | was told she should have applied for a working visa, instead
           | of a tourist visa
           | 
           | She probably told the Canadian border that was her plan in
           | Canada as well and told her she needs a work visa. Basically
           | like a live in house keeper.
        
         | dredmorbius wrote:
         | She was not detained by Canada's border service.
        
           | toast0 wrote:
           | Canada's border service sent her back to the US. At that
           | point, the US can't exactly tell her to go back to Canada,
           | and have her walk back and forth until the problem solves
           | itself.
           | 
           | Immigration detention pending a return to the country of
           | origin seems reasonable at that point. 10 days of detention
           | to figure out transportation to the country of origin doesn't
           | seem reasonable though.
        
             | Aloha wrote:
             | > and have her walk back and forth until the problem solves
             | itself.
             | 
             | God I had a memory of _Lemmings_ pop up. Thank you for
             | that, it made me smile.
        
           | moralestapia wrote:
           | Can you quote the specific part of my comment (or anybody's
           | comment) where such thing is claimed?
        
         | fortran77 wrote:
         | And none of the USA-bashers here seem to care about that. It
         | got me thinking there's more to this story, too.
        
       | quackscience wrote:
       | Probably shouldn't tell border patrol you're doing unpaid labor
       | in a country you're visiting. When speaking to authorities it's
       | best to say the absolute minimum required for the encounter.
        
         | chasil wrote:
         | I've never had anything to do with foreign exchange students,
         | but are they absolutely prohibited from work of any kind?
         | 
         | If there is ambiguity, then we can't have them here.
        
           | aaomidi wrote:
           | Basically.
        
           | toast0 wrote:
           | In the US, it's very clear. If they don't have work
           | authorization from USCIS, they shouldn't be doing work.
           | There's some guidelines out there on the internet [1], but
           | the students should be extremely careful; any form of
           | compensation or expectation of future compensation for their
           | work could put them in serious trouble. The University of
           | Michigan has a more fleshed out guideline page for their
           | international students [2].
           | 
           | [1] https://marksgray.com/immigration-blog/can-foreign-
           | nationals...
           | 
           | [2]
           | https://internationalcenter.umich.edu/students/employment-
           | vo...
        
             | actionfromafar wrote:
             | Musk is lucky enforcement wasn't as strict back then.
        
           | korkybuchek wrote:
           | > but are they absolutely prohibited from work of any kind?
           | 
           | Generally yes.
           | 
           | But you can have on-campus jobs to supplement your income,
           | and there are at least two programs (CPT and OPT) that let
           | you get approval for limited-term employment in your area of
           | study. CPT also requires university approval.
        
             | kccqzy wrote:
             | Both would require university approval. OPT is literally
             | structured as a course at the university.
        
               | davidgay wrote:
               | You can also do OPT "post-completion" of your degree -
               | this also gives your (new) employer some time to apply
               | for a longer-term work visa.
        
               | yandie wrote:
               | And you need to get work authorization (EAD card) for
               | that. It's not a given
        
           | bakul wrote:
           | She was on a tourist visa. She should have gotten a J-1 visa
           | who can do 20 hours/week part time work with some
           | constraints. Some details about this visa:
           | https://yfuusa.org/2024/05/16/j1-student-visa/
        
         | sergers wrote:
         | or dont lie, apply for appropriate work permits/visa
         | entries/travel authorizations if you are going to work whether
         | its paid or not.
        
           | dmix wrote:
           | You can get banned from coming to the US if they catch you
           | lying about the reason you're crossing the border. It's a
           | long arduous process and lawyer fees to get the ban
           | overturned. Happened to a Canadian I knew a decade ago when
           | they tried to enter on a tourist visa for business purposes.
           | 
           | I'm sure it's similar in other countries but US has always
           | been very strict given the huge amount of people trying to
           | work there and the very finite supply of work visas.
           | 
           | From my experience you'll also get extra scruntiny if you're
           | traveling solo like this girl. I was secondary screened twice
           | coming for business where they double checked my paperwork
           | and TSA lady in the back asked a bunch of silly questions
           | (like "what is PayPal").
        
         | hdjjhhvvhga wrote:
         | Statements like these make me happy I live in Europe.
        
           | quitit wrote:
           | Just some of my personal anecdotes:
           | 
           | I was travelling to Ireland(Dublin) as a tourist and during
           | questioning by a border agent I mentioned that I might check
           | my email (they noticed my laptop), the border agent simply
           | advised me that my visa did not allow work but since I was
           | clearly being transparent about my actions and intentions
           | that there was no reason for them to block me or require me
           | to apply for a working visa, so after what was a friendly
           | chat, I was on my way.
           | 
           | I've also had similar interactions in other European
           | countries such as Germany(Munich) and the UK(London Gatwick)
           | - both of which are particularly thorny about economic
           | migrants posing as other types of visitors or asylum seekers,
           | again no problems and the staff are courteous while
           | conducting their duties professionally.
           | 
           | Meanwhile my last trip to the USA during Trump 1.0 involved
           | the border agent not even speaking to me, but instead holding
           | out his hand for paperwork - so I'd hand him a paper, and if
           | it wasn't the one he wanted, he'd _flick_ it back at me. It
           | 's obvious he's just trying to start shit so he can have an
           | excuse to abuse the power granted to him. (LaGuardia
           | Airport).
        
           | j7ake wrote:
           | It is way harder for an Iranian to travel to Europe as a
           | tourist than for them to travel to USA. Especially if you
           | travel often like once a year.
           | 
           | USA has 10 year tourist visas. Europe gives you the bare
           | minimum to visit every time.
        
           | yandie wrote:
           | European country really gave me bad taste when it comes to
           | visa experience. Gave me the absolute minimum despite having
           | a good paying job - and even after marrying a EU citizen I
           | still had a hard time.
           | 
           | This is news because this woman happens to be from a
           | developed country and not a developing countries.
        
         | kube-system wrote:
         | Barter isn't really "unpaid", but you also just shouldn't be
         | working if you don't have work authorization. Border
         | authorities have the means and motivation to validate any story
         | you have about your stay.
        
       | Svip wrote:
       | Frankly, I wouldn't dare to overstay my tourist visa in the US
       | either 10 or 20 years ago. The articles notes "four month", a
       | standard US tourist visa for an ESTA country (e.g. the UK) would
       | grant 90 days upon arrival; any travel within Canada counts too.
       | Canada, however, grants 180 days, helping explain why Canada may
       | not have seen an issue. Whenever travelling elsewhere for more
       | than 1 month, check _everything_; including your travel
       | insurance, most only last 60 days.
        
         | toast0 wrote:
         | > helping explain why Canada may not have seen an issue
         | 
         | The article seems to indicate that Canada did have an issue:
         | 
         | > Canadian authorities told her to go back to the US and fill
         | in new paperwork before returning to cross into Canada.
         | 
         | It seems that she was detained after re-entering the US upon
         | being refused entry into Canada.
        
           | Svip wrote:
           | Ah. I missed that; maybe Canada only recognises the US visa
           | stay if one entered the US first. I did this research back in
           | 2017, and I may misremember some details.
        
             | sergers wrote:
             | i think she was "working" but potentially
             | unpaid/compensated in lodging staying a t
             | https://www.workaway.info/ (which was reported by the BBC
             | where she was staying)
        
               | toast0 wrote:
               | This site now has a popup for the US
               | 
               | > Important information about visiting: United States >
               | If you are NOT a US CITIZEN and are planning to visit to
               | work, volunteer or study, YOU WILL NEED THE CORRECT VISA.
               | To find out more information you need to contact the
               | embassy in your home country BEFORE traveling.
               | 
               | But a quick look around near me looks like work for
               | immigration purposes, so someone on a tourist visa to the
               | US should not be participating.
        
           | pclmulqdq wrote:
           | If you are trying to get a visa anywhere, it's very standard
           | for them to ask if you have ever been denied entry to any
           | country, and it raises a lot of red flags (regardless of the
           | reason). It's entirely possible she mentioned the denial when
           | talking to the US authorities, and that caused them to detain
           | her until she could be suitably deported.
        
         | ta1243 wrote:
         | I suspect that people don't read the small print about the 90
         | days counting for your entire time on the continent. That said
         | it's unclear her exact itinerary from the story
         | 
         | Ultimately if you go to a hostile country though, you need to
         | have a good support network. You wouldn't travel to say China
         | and breach your visa. The US is a hostile country and should be
         | treated as such.
        
       | decimalenough wrote:
       | If she is on a "four-month backpacking trip around North America"
       | and tried to return to the US, she has exceeded the 90-day limit
       | allowed by the Visa Waiver Program (which counts days both in the
       | US and "adjacent territories") and is now an illegal overstayer.
       | The unpaid labor stuff and getting refused entry to Canada is
       | icing on the cake.
       | 
       | For the record, I'm no fan of ICE/CBP, but it looks like they're
       | just enforcing the law here.
        
         | viraptor wrote:
         | Enforcing the law is one thing. If they refused entry or forced
         | her to fly back immediately, nobody would care much. Detaining
         | is all of: cruel, expensive, unnecessary.
        
           | toast0 wrote:
           | Forcing her to fly back immediately (and detaining until the
           | flight if not immediate) seems reasonable, but both countries
           | at a land crossing can't refuse entry. The article states she
           | was refused entry to Canada, and then detained when she
           | returned to the US; I don't know if there are international
           | norms here, but I think in this situation if both countries
           | would refuse entry, one of them has to accept entry and
           | consider immigration detention; and it doesn't seem unfair
           | for that to be the country where the person in question was
           | before the first crossing?
        
             | viraptor wrote:
             | Sure, they could consider detention. But then there are
             | daily flights back to the UK. Anything beyond an overnight
             | stay (if necessary for the wait) is unfair.
        
               | averageRoyalty wrote:
               | I'm not convinced it's the Americans responsibility to
               | get her back to a suitable international airport as
               | quickly as possible and put her in the next flight out.
               | 10 days does seem excessive, but I don't see why she
               | should be a priority either. I would imagine up to 5
               | working days fits within the realm of 'reasonable'.
        
               | gopher_space wrote:
               | Feel free to not encage people if you don't like the
               | responsibility.
        
               | wat10000 wrote:
               | A full work week in jail for something that isn't even a
               | crime is ridiculous.
        
               | stefan_ wrote:
               | Yeah, what's habeas corpus.
        
               | psychlops wrote:
               | A legal procedure that protects citizens, which she
               | isn't.
        
               | amanaplanacanal wrote:
               | Nah. Habeus Corpus applies to everybody in the US, not
               | just citizens.
        
               | xethos wrote:
               | Dictating they buy one of the most expensive flights (one
               | of the immediate ones taking off that day) probably isn't
               | a great look either. Like so much else with law
               | enforcement, they look like shit because of the system
               | and incentives set up.
               | 
               | Some do it themselves and are malicious for no good
               | reason, but not literally every time.
        
               | viraptor wrote:
               | You don't get a free flight. Typically either your return
               | ticket is moved if possible, or the airline will claim
               | the cost from you. There's a number of regulations and
               | airline rules, but in general - unless the airline messed
               | up checks at boarding, you're getting charged for the
               | flight back.
        
               | lepton wrote:
               | That's the parent's point: a same-day flight may be
               | expensive for the detainee and look bad for ICE.
        
               | dmix wrote:
               | Sounds like she was surviving doing chores in exchange
               | for a place to sleep (in two different countries). It's
               | possible she didn't have a plane ticket lined up.
        
               | orwin wrote:
               | It's so expensive to not take a return ticket, I doubt
               | she didn't had a return plane ticket. Maybe she moved her
               | flight or missed it, but only rich people don't buy a
               | return ticket.
        
               | nomdep wrote:
               | She might even have done this on purpose to get a free
               | ride home
        
               | toast0 wrote:
               | This page[1] says "The majority of removals are carried
               | out by air at U.S. government expense." which sounds like
               | a free flight to me. Looking at prices, a near term one-
               | way, no stops flight is about $500. There's some
               | expensive days, and if you wait two weeks, you can save
               | about $70 on the flight ... doesn't seem to be worth the
               | wait, assuming detention costs are more than $5/day. But
               | I'd say waiting a few days to avoid some of the $1000+
               | flights would make sense.
               | 
               | Generally I'd expect a deportation process to take quite
               | some time because immigration courts have not been
               | properly staffed. But I would have expected ICE to offer
               | either a withdrawal of application, or voluntary
               | deportation, both of which involve travel arrangements at
               | the alien's expense in order to expedite removal. I think
               | it's probably in the person's better interest to pay for
               | a ticket home (hopefully with some credit for their
               | previously scheduled flight) if they were planning on
               | returning home anyway; better to go home early than sit
               | out your trip in immigration detention.
               | 
               | [1] https://www.usa.gov/deportation-process
        
               | Klonoar wrote:
               | There is no world where that bad look means throw them in
               | a prison cell to languish.
        
               | jkaplowitz wrote:
               | 10 days and counting of immigration detention (possibly
               | more in the end since she's still detained) plus whatever
               | deportation ICE would eventually conduct undoubtedly
               | costs more than the flight you're describing.
               | 
               | Meanwhile, her British MP has relayed the family's
               | request to arrange voluntary departure, so the trip home
               | wouldn't even be at government expense.
               | 
               | ICE has no legitimate excuse to be slow about permitting
               | voluntary departure unless they're planning to prosecute
               | her criminally, think she won't actually go through with
               | the voluntary departure, or think she will commit crimes
               | before voluntarily departing. None of those seem likely
               | in the scenario we're discussing.
               | 
               | The political environment of the Trump administration may
               | very well be an explanation for why they're not quickly
               | permitting this, but an explanation is not an excuse.
        
           | dessimus wrote:
           | > Detaining is all of: cruel, expensive, unnecessary.
           | 
           | What about those poor private prison corporations that are
           | being deprived of an income?! How dare you! /s
        
           | anigbrowl wrote:
           | [delayed]
        
         | kennysoona wrote:
         | There's a right and a wrong way to enforce the law, though.
         | 
         | Putting her in a literal prison and in an orange jumpsuit is
         | overkill. Clearly she just screwed up and thought what she was
         | doing was ok, but isn't a threat. Let her go back to the UK and
         | no longer be eligible for ESTA. How is that not sufficient?
        
           | immibis wrote:
           | BTW this would not be the public majority opinion if she was
           | a black man.
        
           | timeon wrote:
           | It seems shocking from European perspective. At least they
           | did not shot her because of resisting or something.
        
         | toast0 wrote:
         | The article says
         | 
         | > She had previously been staying with a host family in
         | Portland, Oregon, under a similar arrangement after spending
         | some time sightseeing in New York City, where she first arrived
         | from the UK at the start of the year.
         | 
         | This article is like one of those tricky word problems where
         | they try to hide information, and you have to piece it
         | together, but I think the trip was planned for four months, but
         | if she only entered the US after the start of the year, she
         | can't have overstayed a 90-day visa as of yet. Perhaps her plan
         | was to go to Canada 10 days ago and spend the rest of her time
         | there, departing back to the UK from Canada and not transiting
         | the US on the way back; I don't know the details of Canada
         | immigration, but someone elsewhere in the thread indicates a
         | 180 day limit was common; and I'd assume that would start on
         | first entry to Canada, so the duration of the stay would be
         | fine in that case. Or perhaps her plan was to come back to the
         | US after a side trip to Canada and then depart from the US to
         | the UK, in which case her planned trip is outside the limit,
         | but she hasn't overstayed yet.
         | 
         | But I think the issue seems to be more likely because of doing
         | work on a tourist visa, which was subject to scrutiny because
         | Canada denied entry, likely over planning to work on a tourist
         | visa? Canada does have the International Experience Canada
         | (IEC) Program [1] which allows for young adults aged 18 to 35
         | (18 to 30 in some countries) to work in Canada while visiting,
         | but afaik, the US has nothing similar.
         | 
         | [1] https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-
         | citizenship/se...
        
         | gobblegobble2 wrote:
         | The article says "[she] was told she should have applied for a
         | working visa, instead of a tourist visa", so it's fair to
         | assume she had a proper B2 tourist visa, which lets you stay
         | for 6 months.
        
         | lastofthemojito wrote:
         | I don't think enforcing the law is the problem so much as the
         | reaction. Why is she jailed rather than simply placed on one of
         | the daily nonstops from Sea-Tac to Heathrow?
        
           | thfuran wrote:
           | That plan doesn't have enough suffering.
        
         | threatofrain wrote:
         | Given the sum of facts, poor vacation planning is a fair
         | interpretation of the final story. There's a general absence of
         | hostility towards the US in this story and instead a sense of
         | attraction and willingness to spend vacation time and money
         | here.
         | 
         | We should be directing the treatment of such minor offenses
         | through polished administrative pathways and not 10 days in
         | prison. That person will likely not come back ever again, and
         | it's a shame because there's every indication that this woman
         | would be a fine visitor and customer to local businesses, US
         | and Canadian.
         | 
         | They're just here for pure sightseeing under the most amicable
         | of moods. 10 days in prison.
        
         | buyucu wrote:
         | detaining for 10 days is nonsense. Just deny entry and send
         | them back.
        
         | almog wrote:
         | It's not clear from the article whether she exceeded the 90 day
         | limit on any single entry. However, there is no limit on the
         | number of times a visitor can re-enter and use their 90 day
         | visa. It's up the the immigration officer's discretion to
         | decide whether or not to admit them under that visa again but
         | assuming one exit and enter within 90 days there's no legal
         | issue with re-entering again immediately.
        
         | Aloha wrote:
         | Good catch, I didnt quite catch that she was denied reentry to
         | Canada!
        
       | wrp wrote:
       | I have long suspected the reason for aggressive treatment of
       | minor offenders is that they are an easy target and a quick way
       | to meet your prosecution quota.
       | 
       | I have many times heard about foreign students who come to the
       | USA under completely proper arrangements but run afoul of
       | immigration because of some innocent remark. My advice to
       | visitors is to never mention to officials any circumstance in
       | which you might come into contact with business or financial
       | operations.
        
         | nxobject wrote:
         | Speaking of quotas: I wouldn't surprised if part of the reason
         | for her lengthy detention was "we have to meet jail occupancy
         | targets" (or "we have to boost our jail occupancy metrics".)
        
         | Hamuko wrote:
         | My solution is just to avoid the US like the plague. This is
         | after the countless of stories of people being detained at the
         | border, having their electronics gone through and having to
         | report all of your social media accounts for some fucking
         | reason.
        
         | dmix wrote:
         | I doubt there needs to be some higher agenda. At the border
         | you're at the whims of power tripping border guards and TSA. A
         | whole lot can happen if you get the wrong person who's in a bad
         | mood or simply confused. And once flagged you get pushed into a
         | byzantine process and the next person you speak to won't care
         | how you got into it or if the first guy was unfair, the process
         | is the process.
        
       | IncreasePosts wrote:
       | It sounds like she was rightfully detained, but it seems crazy to
       | hold her for 10+ days. Why not just let her get back on a flight
       | to the UK and tell her not to come back for 10 years or whatever.
        
         | criddell wrote:
         | Yeah, some details are definitely missing.
        
         | parliament32 wrote:
         | My understanding is that they typically do, you book your own
         | ticket for and they put you on a plane, even later the same day
         | if you want. They'll only keep you in detention if you're
         | trying to fight the deportation and have to wait for a hearing,
         | or if you have no way to pay for a ticket -- then they find a
         | low-cost ticket some time out and hold you until then.
        
       | sergers wrote:
       | i was following this on another site before it showed up here:
       | 
       | 1)UK citizens dont need a visa perse coming into canada as a
       | tourist
       | 
       | 1b) electronic travel authorization form is not required for UK
       | citizens coming to canada over land border.
       | 
       | 2)she was staying at Workaway, which depending on how you
       | interpret/misinterpret is "working" (which it possibly is, a
       | little shady on what they are.) so canada may have thought she
       | was going to work... which a tourist visa doesnt cover
       | 
       | so my guess is canadian authorities felt she was coming here to
       | work, which she didnt have the proper paperwork so got denied.
       | 
       | USA authorities upon re-entry attempt, probably felt she is
       | scamming the ESTA 90 days being on a "4 month" trip, staying at
       | workaway locations... and playing devils advocate, there is no
       | proof that this is NOT what she was trying to do... going to a
       | short trip in canada before going back thinking it resets ESTA
       | (they have to be gone from usa for a reasonable time)
       | 
       | so much unknowns.
       | 
       | i think they were right to detain her/deny her entry... but the
       | length of detainment is at issue.
       | 
       | very first thing i think of when viewing their site is this is
       | some lodging for volunteer/unpaid labour.
       | https://www.workaway.info/
        
         | cco wrote:
         | > very first thing i think of when viewing their site is this
         | is some lodging for volunteer/unpaid labour.
         | https://www.workaway.info/
         | 
         | I'm certainly not an immigration lawyer but my understanding is
         | that _no_ work, none, even in exchange for room and board, is
         | allowed on a tourist visa in the US.
         | 
         | Workaway looks like it isn't compatible with a tourist visa in
         | the US and their website doesn't really call that out. Seems
         | like something that nine times out of ten if you're just quiet
         | about it it'll never come up and you'd be fine.
         | 
         | But unfortunately Canada refused entry and then questions were
         | asked. Rough.
        
           | Terretta wrote:
           | _"Generally you will be expected to help around 5 hours per
           | day in exchange for food and accommodation. Some hosts may
           | give a paid allowance to ensure they are offering at least
           | the minimum wage in their country."_
        
         | carabiner wrote:
         | You can just say reddit:
         | https://www.reddit.com/r/Seattle/comments/1j7qumk/uk_girl_sw...
        
       | layman51 wrote:
       | Earlier this month, the Guardian also had an article of a German
       | tourist who crossed over the land border (San Ysidro Port of
       | Entry, I assume) who was detained for a long while too. The
       | details seemed kind of similar to this situation where it
       | involves suspicion of tourists working in the USA without the
       | proper authorizations.
        
         | buyucu wrote:
         | there is a second german tourist now in the same situation,
         | detained while trying to visit his fiancee:
         | https://old.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1j7xjhf/it_is_li...
        
         | manosyja wrote:
         | Couple days ago there was a report of another German tourist
         | being arrested and held without legal counsel.
        
         | ajmurmann wrote:
         | It seems like there was good reason for these concerns that the
         | person was going to work. However, the person was right there
         | at the border. Why did we not just turn them back around. I
         | don't think they had overstayed their time in Mexico? Further
         | they had a return flight weeks ago. AFAIk we have been paying
         | to keep this person detained for over a month now. Why not at
         | least put them on their original flight back. This entire
         | approach with detention and deportations seems a very expensive
         | solution.
         | 
         | Edit: In general it seems that if the goal is to reduce illegal
         | immigration, it would be much cheaper to deter most illegal
         | migrants who generally come for economic reasons by fining
         | employers of workers without permits. Instead of cost it brings
         | in money and the illegal workers will deport themselves if all
         | work dries up.
        
         | dghlsakjg wrote:
         | While I don't like the whole "detaining people instead of just
         | turning them around", but the German you are referring to was a
         | tattoo artist who had posted on their instagram that they were
         | doing pop-up tattoo events in LA, and then tried to enter on a
         | tourist visa. She very much was in violation of the law, in
         | other words.
        
           | buyucu wrote:
           | just deny entry. detaining someone for multiple months for
           | tattoos is evil.
        
       | buyucu wrote:
       | I will be avoiding all US travel in the near future. No need to
       | get close to this kind of lunacy.
        
       | jmyeet wrote:
       | Here's an example of how broken the discourse is over immigration
       | and how the media has grossly failed with their responsibility in
       | reporting something remotely factual.
       | 
       | The majority of undocumented migrants aren't border crosses.
       | They're visa overstayers [1].
       | 
       | And of course the "migrant crime" hysteria is completely made up.
       | Despite there being at least 10 million undocumented migrants,
       | the number of murders commited by both documented and
       | undocumented migrants in 2024 was 29 [2]. Not 29,000. TWENTY
       | NINE. That's a per-capita crime rate significantly lower than the
       | American population.
       | 
       | [1]: https://www.npr.org/2019/01/16/686056668/for-seventh-
       | consecu...
       | 
       | [2]: https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/cbp-enforcement-
       | statistic...
        
       | n1b0m wrote:
       | A similar story about Ice detaining a German tourist in
       | California indefinitely. Jessica Brosche has spent more than a
       | month in detention center after being denied entry at San Diego
       | from Mexico.
       | 
       | https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/03/ice-german-t...
        
         | DidYaWipe wrote:
         | The hypocrisy of everything under this administration boggles
         | the mind. "You're here illegally! No, we won't let you leave!"
        
           | ohgr wrote:
           | I think it's malicious incompetence.
           | 
           | They probably rolled this out so fast and fired everyone who
           | could manage it at the same time that it's running at the
           | stage of "how do we not starve these people" levels of chaos.
           | 
           | What a shit show though.
        
           | bloomingeek wrote:
           | I have English relatives, my son-in-laws family, lovely
           | people. They want to come visit again, but are concerned
           | about the craziness of the current administration. When they
           | visit, they spend plenty of money and have a great time. Does
           | the GOP think tourists from other countries aren't paying
           | attention?!?
        
         | anigbrowl wrote:
         | More than one: https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/usa-einreise-
         | zweiter-deutscher-... (in German)
        
       | Razengan wrote:
       | Hot Take: People should be allowed to travel and live wherever
       | they want, if they can work/pay for it and follow local laws.
        
       | paulsutter wrote:
       | Little known fact: traveling to Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean
       | doesnt extend your 90 day visit to the US, in fact you keep the
       | original 90 day stamp so the days spent in those places
       | essentially count against the 90 days.
       | 
       | This is a convenience for travelers to North America, you only
       | need to enter the US once. But seems like she wasn't aware of
       | this.
        
       | justforonepost wrote:
       | Crazy as it seems I feel it's not safe to say this on my main
       | account any more - I've done more than 100 trips to the US for
       | work in the last decade but I've now concluded I've done my last
       | for a few years at least. There's been a real uptick in these
       | stories and now people legally in the US are being actively
       | targeted and effectively disappeared for speech it doesn't feel
       | like normalcy or due process apply. Similarly I wouldn't have
       | visited China during the cultural revolution.
        
         | timeon wrote:
         | This can potentially accelerate more in US than in China
         | because of for-profit prisons.
        
       | motbus3 wrote:
       | I'm just waiting for this immigration crackdown to be done with
       | and then we'll need to see who will be blamed for bad economy
       | numbers.
        
         | stevenwoo wrote:
         | They are ahead of you already, they are going to fudge/hide the
         | numbers. https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-admin-
         | disbands-two... This is like Soviet/CCCP style make the numbers
         | match the plan sort of thing.
        
       | codedokode wrote:
       | A reasonable response to this for UK govt would be to check
       | American tourists and see if they are properly complying with the
       | law. Law is so complicated, no way you can't find at least one
       | violation.
       | 
       | Also, the article states that other people in the prison had been
       | there for much longer time ("months"), but nobody writes articles
       | about them.
        
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