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

theguardian.com

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

#101

Post by timeon »

justforonepost wrote: post #94

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. Similarl…

This can potentially accelerate more in US than in China because of for-profit prisons.

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

#102

Post by amanaplanacanal »

psychlops wrote: post #92
stefan_ wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, what's habeas corpus.

A legal procedure that protects citizens, which she isn't.

Nah. Habeus Corpus applies to everybody in the US, not just citizens.

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

#103

Post by ohgr »

DidYaWipe wrote: post #96
n1b0m wrote: post #78

A similar story about Ice detaining a German tourist in California indefinitely. Jessica Brösche 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...

The hypocrisy of everything under this administration boggles the mind. "You're here illegally! No, we won't let you leave!"

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.

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

#104

Post by orwin »

dmix wrote: post #60
viraptor wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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.

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.

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

#106

Post by timeon »

kennysoona wrote: post #22
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?

It seems shocking from European perspective. At least they did not shot her because of resisting or something.

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

#107

Post by stevenwoo »

motbus3 wrote: post #105

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.

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.

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

#108

Post by codedokode »

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.

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

#109

Post by anigbrowl »

n1b0m wrote: post #78

A similar story about Ice detaining a German tourist in California indefinitely. Jessica Brösche 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...

More than one: https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/usa-einreise-zweiter-deutscher-... (in German)

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

#110

Post by nomdep »

dmix wrote: post #60
viraptor wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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.

She might even have done this on purpose to get a free ride home
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