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

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/mar/10/british-tourist-detained-us-authorities-10-days-visa-issue

by n1b0m • 1 year ago

205 233 1 year ago

morkalork• 1 year ago

Second time today I read about this kind of story: https://www.10news.com/news/team-10/it-is-like-jail-german-m...

vvpan• 1 year ago

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.

moralestapia2• 1 year ago

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• 1 year ago

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.

dmix4• 1 year ago

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• 1 year ago

She was not detained by Canada's border service.

toast09• 1 year ago

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.

moralestapia2• 1 year ago

Can you quote the specific part of my comment (or anybody's comment) where such thing is claimed?

fortran77• 1 year ago

And none of the USA-bashers here seem to care about that. It got me thinking there's more to this story, too.

quackscience• 1 year ago

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• 1 year ago

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• 1 year ago

Basically.

toast09• 1 year ago

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...

korkybuchek• 1 year ago

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.

bakul• 1 year ago

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/

sergers4• 1 year ago

or dont lie, apply for appropriate work permits/visa entries/travel authorizations if you are going to work whether its paid or not.

dmix4• 1 year ago

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").

hdjjhhvvhga3• 1 year ago

Statements like these make me happy I live in Europe.

quitit• 1 year ago

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• 1 year ago

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.

yandie2• 1 year ago

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.

newyankee4• 1 year ago

Europe treats tourists from developing countries way worse than US does when you apply even for short term tours with all details. US looks at bigger picture, history if any, financial conditions but Europe literally wants you to have planned down everything to the most relevant detail and will then issue a visa 1 or 2 days longer than the itinerary and ask you to piss off

robertlagrant2• 1 year ago

If you live in Europe you'll need a visa to work in the US. You want to live in the US to not need the visa.

latency-guy23• 1 year ago

Sure as you might, I assume you're a citizen of the EU. That really just means you're happy you live in an area where you're a citizen with effectively no limit on what you can do in areas where your citizenship is acceptable to do what you want to do.

Don't forget, your country absolutely has their own visa terms, and they absolutely do enforce it.

I'm personally satisfied with my citizenship as well.

kube-system• 1 year ago

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.

Svip2• 1 year ago

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.

toast09• 1 year ago

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.

Svip2• 1 year ago

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.

pclmulqdq• 1 year ago

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• 1 year ago

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.

decimalenough4• 1 year ago

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.

viraptor3• 1 year ago

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.

toast09• 1 year ago

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?

dessimus• 1 year ago

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

anigbrowl3• 1 year ago

Probably profitable though. A lot of those immigration detention centers are privately operated.

_DeadFred_3• 1 year ago

FYI Tacoma Northwest is a Geo Group private prison. Geo Group is paid per number of beds at this facility not number occupied so locking her up has zero added expense. But you do not want to be in a Geo private facility especially their immigration facilities.

kennysoona13• 1 year ago

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• 1 year ago

BTW this would not be the public majority opinion if she was a black man.

timeon2• 1 year ago

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

necovek15• 1 year ago

There is only one way to enforce the law, which is to enforce it upon learning of all the circumstances, both in favour and not in favour of the accused. The fact that you are not familiar with the law never protects you by design ("oh sorry, I never realised I wasn't allowed to just take their bike and ride away") — so it's upon the courts to make judgement on the entire set of circumstances.

The problem with any immigration service in the world is that they are dealing with non-citizens which lack most protections citizenship would have given them — which means that it may take its sweet time before courts actually hear her defense and probably decide as you suggest (along with introducing a 3 or 5 year ban on entering the US).

toast09• 1 year ago

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• 1 year ago

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.

decimalenough4• 1 year ago

VWP/ESTA is a "tourist visa" in all but name, and it's much more likely that a UK citizen would be using this instead of going through the full B2 visa application rigmarole.

lastofthemojito• 1 year ago

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• 1 year ago

That plan doesn't have enough suffering.

threatofrain• 1 year ago

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.

buyucu5• 1 year ago

detaining for 10 days is nonsense. Just deny entry and send them back.

decimalenough4• 1 year ago

Back to where? They were detained at the US land border after Canada denied them entry as well.

almog• 1 year ago

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.

Aloha2• 1 year ago

Good catch, I didnt quite catch that she was denied reentry to Canada!

cpncrunch2• 1 year ago

There is no mention of her using the visa waiver program. In fact it talks about her "tourist visa" (which allows up to 6 months).

gruez5• 1 year ago

In fact it talks about her "tourist visa" (which allows up to 6 months).

No, if you read the article carefully it never stated that she had a tourist visa at all. Only that she was told "she should have applied for a working visa, instead of a tourist visa". That's not the same as her possessing a tourist visa. Moreover a "tourist visa" (of 6 months) isn't something you can apply for at the border. If she just showed up at the border, then by all likelihood she's getting in via the Visa Waiver Program, which has a 90 day limit.

So it sounds like what happened was that she drove across the US border from Canada, tried getting in using the Visa Waiver Program, the border guards grilled her, she cracked under pressure (ie. admitted she was going to do stuff inconsistent with the Visa Waiver Program), and they tried to deport her back to Canada. However, Canada doesn't want to take her back so she's stuck in limbo.

cthulha• 1 year ago

You used to be able (specific countries only) get an automatic visa on entry.

There were people active in the San Francisco startup scene from multiple countries who would go for a 'holiday' nearby (mexico, canada, etc) for a week every 2-3 months and then get a new 3 month visa on re-entry. One of them told me that after almost two years of that he started getting tougher conversations at re-entry, but was still allowed through.

This is from 2010ish, so maybe things have changed. But it certainly isn't possible to just assume that she broke the rules from that description, because it hinges on extremely technical reading of multiple overlapping legislation and regulation.

Side note on people trying to reason outside their field of knowledge: any American who has never had to deal with visas for incoming people has a useless opinion. The US media on this is hyperpolitical garbage and grievance politics. Not particularly directed at the original poster, just a request to so many indulged Americans who feel informed and entitled on this topic while they are demonstrably wrong.

ryan_lane• 1 year ago

Overstay on a visa is a civil offense, not a criminal one. Yes, you're subject to deportation, but shouldn't be subject to detention.

So, no, ICE/CBP is not enforcing the law.

wrp• 1 year ago

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• 1 year ago

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• 1 year ago

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.

dmix4• 1 year ago

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• 1 year ago

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• 1 year ago

Yeah, some details are definitely missing.

parliament32• 1 year ago

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.

sergers4• 1 year ago

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• 1 year ago

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• 1 year ago

“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.”

newyankee4• 1 year ago

The hint is in the name itself.

nosianu2• 1 year ago

I wonder how Camp America is doing it these days.

https://www.campamerica.co.uk/the-experience/camp-jobs/campo...

Back in 1997 I participated. I had to get a J-1 visa, worked in a summer camp for about two months and got $400 pocket money. I entered the country using the program description, no deception.

Later I actually worked in the US - on a simple business trip visa - B1. For 12 months, interrupted by trips back home. Legally! Reentry got harder and harder with each return trip, and in the end I was taken to the back. But after explaining everything I git the stamp, no problem.

The secret: A big German company wanted to make the software of a big Silicon Valley company work on their platform. The obstacle: That company would not let their source code leave their premises. So this German job normally done in Germany had to be done on premise at the SV company. I still was a full German employee, only a temporary change of office because of that policy. It was acceptable for immigration. I don't think I would try that kind of thing again these days though.

carabiner• 1 year ago

You can just say reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Seattle/comments/1j7qumk/uk_girl_sw...

sergers4• 1 year ago

not everyone uses reddit. i did not see it on reddit.. it was from another news site.

reviewing timelines, it made news circle from facebook before it hit reddit.

mingus885• 1 year ago

I traveled quite a bit at one point and it was beaten into my head repeatedly that you never mention work unless you have a work visa

It was acceptable to say you were there for a day for a “meeting” but that was still a touchy subject they could absolutely detain you for. “They” in this case was not the U.S. border patrol. All countries want to keep out workers who don’t have the right visa

Needless to say, telling border patrol of any country that you are a residing at someone’s house to work under the table in exchange for housing should get you in trouble.

The U.S. just seems more amenable to making your life hell over it right now

yibg• 1 year ago

Based just on the details in the report, it seems refusing entry is justified. Or at least not very strange.

What I don't understand is, why not just send her back home vs detaining her? Maybe someone that's more knowledgeable here can chime in. Is it standard practice to detain someone, especially for an extended period, vs just putting them on the first plane back home?

newyankee4• 1 year ago

The idea might be to create a clear example that becomes popular and known so that others who might attempt the same will be dissuaded

londons_explore• 1 year ago

When you are at a land border, but neither country on either side of the border will grant you entry, there is no easy 'way out'.

She could not fly to the UK directly from that border location.

When arrested, she has to go through the proper deportation process - and that might well be very expensive, and she might not have the money to pay. Deportations can easily cost 10x a regular flight cost due to the extra security needed.

newyankee4• 1 year ago

Citizens from developed countries think that the immigration rules applied to folks from developing and poorer countries may not be seriously interpreted for them. This is just a good example where crackdown has occurred according to the letter of the law.

layman514• 1 year ago

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.

buyucu5• 1 year ago

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• 1 year ago

Couple days ago there was a report of another German tourist being arrested and held without legal counsel.

ajmurmann2• 1 year ago

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.

layman514• 1 year ago

It seems like a common detail for both situations is both travelers were at a land crossing. It sounds like a nightmare scenario but I bet they also could have been bounced back and forth between the guards of either country. At that point, one side will have to take on detention responsibilities because neither side will trust the person to make good on their return plans.

dghlsakjg• 1 year ago

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.

buyucu5• 1 year ago

just deny entry. detaining someone for multiple months for tattoos is evil.

buyucu5• 1 year ago

I will be avoiding all US travel in the near future. No need to get close to this kind of lunacy.

jmyeet• 1 year ago

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...

cavisne• 1 year ago

[2] Is an incorrect interpretation. There is no nationwide data on murders by illegal immigrants, only some states like Texas collect this. CPB does not deport many murderers because they are serving prison sentences in the US. In 2022 there were 67 Texas murders by illegal immigrants, more than the supposed CPB FY22 number just in one state.

https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/2024-06/Policy-Ana...

The per capita trend is still directionally the same as your claim in Texas.

The problem with illegal immigrant murders is there is a legal and proportional way to prevent all of them - don't let them in the first place. This isn't so easy for other murderers.

n1b0m2• 1 year ago

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...

DidYaWipe2• 1 year ago

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

ohgr• 1 year ago

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• 1 year ago

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?!?

stevenwoo3• 1 year ago

It's part of the ICE grift. Ninety percent of ICE detention facilities are run by private companies. This has been going on through many administrations of all political stripes so sadly non partisan in a way, but there's no good excuse for this privatization for profit, it incentivizes making it harder for legal representation and reducing the number of judges, to increase the length of detention.

anigbrowl3• 1 year ago

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

refurb• 1 year ago

That tourist couldn’t be admitted to the IS, nor returned to Mexico as they didn’t have permission.

So they had to wait for deportation?

nosianu2• 1 year ago

She had an airline ticket. She missed that flight now.

Brösche had her German passport, confirmation of her visa waiver to enter the country, and a copy of her return ticket back to Berlin

Razengan2• 1 year ago

Hot Take: People should be allowed to travel and live wherever they want, if they can work/pay for it and follow local laws.

userbinator2• 1 year ago

The local laws include requiring a valid visa.

Razengan2• 1 year ago

Well I mean the freedom to travel and choose where you live should be a basic human right, and local laws aren't supposed to override basic rights.

paulsutter• 1 year ago

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• 1 year ago

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.

timeon2• 1 year ago

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

motbus32• 1 year ago

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.

stevenwoo3• 1 year ago

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.

motbus32• 1 year ago

I am quite afraid to comment things on internet nowadays

codedokode2• 1 year ago

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.

n1b0m2• 1 year ago

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/03/ice-german-t...

tim3332• 1 year ago

The US has always been a scary place to cross the border. I'm a Brit and have been to 50+ countries and the US is the only one that seems like it's trying to find a reason to arrest you. The others generally don't give problems or possibly just refuse entry and you have to go back.

The other thing that puzzles me about the US is they give basically law abiding travellers all sorts of grief while at the same time letting people just wander in from Mexico and live for years. Odd system.

AlotOfReading2• 1 year ago

The US doesn't just let people wander in. The US-Mexico border is incredibly militarized, with multiple lines of checkpoints on either side and a massive amount of technology and manpower to support patrolling the desert between ports. It's closer to a conflict border than it is to a typical international border.

gruez5• 1 year ago

The US doesn't just let people wander in. The US-Mexico border is incredibly militarized, with multiple lines of checkpoints on either side. [...] It's closer to the DMZ than it is to a typical international border.

Unless "multiple lines of checkpoints" actually means "multiple booths so visitors can be processed in parallel", this is most certainly false. Here's the San Ysidro boreder crossing in Tijuana:

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.5423767,-117.0289817,331m/da...

You can see a wide fanout to a bunch of booths, a secondary screening area north of that, and some administrative buildings. That's not "multiple lines of checkpoints". It's just one checkpoint. There might be more drug sniffer dogs than the average border crossing elsewhere, but for the typical traveler it's otherwise not that much different.

tim3332• 1 year ago

Well maybe not but I was watching in mild amazement a bunch of Chinese cross the border in a 60 minutes segment. It's more hurry over through a gap than wander. https://youtu.be/M7TNP2OTY2g?t=38

I was thinking the odd nature of US immigration is probably down to it being more legalistic than other countries - more lawyers and courts. That could account for both the hard time with legal visitors and also the Mexican border in that the people in that video I think were relying on legal protections for asylum seekers and the like.

a_bonobo• 1 year ago

I agree - I've traveled a few times to the US to speak at conferences and every time the border agent tried to entrap me - i.e., tried to get me to confess that I'm being paid for my presentation, which obviously isn't covered by ESTA. I've never been paid, classic academic. But they still try every time! How much can a regular person earn in speaking fees that this would warrant interviews?

EU/Australia/New Zealand/Japan has been the opposite experience - they never asked.

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

Related Stories