Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

British tourist detained by US authorities for 10 days over visa issue

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 257 posts

Re: British tourist detained by US authorities for 10 days over visa issue

#22

Post by kennysoona »

decimalenough wrote: post #14

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 enforci…

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?

Re: British tourist detained by US authorities for 10 days over visa issue

#23

Post by toast0 »

decimalenough wrote: post #14

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 enforci…

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...

Re: British tourist detained by US authorities for 10 days over visa issue

#24

Post by gobblegobble2 »

decimalenough wrote: post #14

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 enforci…

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.

Re: British tourist detained by US authorities for 10 days over visa issue

#25

Post by ta1243 »

Svip wrote: post #10

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_; inc…

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.

Re: British tourist detained by US authorities for 10 days over visa issue

#26

Post by lastofthemojito »

decimalenough wrote: post #14

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 enforci…

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?

Re: British tourist detained by US authorities for 10 days over visa issue

#27

Post by toast0 »

viraptor wrote: post #19
decimalenough wrote: post #14

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 enforci…

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.

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?

Re: British tourist detained by US authorities for 10 days over visa issue

#29

Post by chasil »

quackscience wrote: post #8

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.

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.

Post reply on HN