Yep. It sucks she was detained but it was on her to make sure she had the proper visas same as it would be my responsibility before traveling somewhere.
MTG called British journalists ‘illegal aliens’ told them to go back to their Country.The Trump Republican Party, including every Republican that has stuck by his side,supports this.They favour Russia over the UK.Time for people to wake up, travel and get rid of their prejudices that caused Brexit.
On the positive side, share prices for immigration detention GEO Group increased from around $15 to $35 after the Trump Republican election win. Boost your pension fund by profiting from other people's misery.
she was working for lodging, this was not allowed under her visa , so she was deported. She is not above the law, so what is the deal with trying to make it otherwise. You break the terms of your visa you are detained and deported out of the country, that is the way things work in most countries
Yes she broke the rules, how is it right that she was detained and imprisoned? Do you think we would do this to Americans? Send her back on the next flight but imprisoning and strip search, that’s barbaric..nobody I know will visit America now.
Poignant, sad, and eye opening: [… her advice to anyone planning to travel to the US is simply not to go. “First, because of the danger of what could happen to you. And, secondly, do you really want to give your money to this country right now?”]
I’ve always dreamed of visiting America. Such an amazing county. I still hold most Americans in high regard. But the sheer amount of mean-spirited assholes emerging out of the woodwork put me off now. It seems Trumps biggest impact is allowing people to embrace the worst versions of themselves.
It's quite beautiful in many areas. I do hope you'll be able to visit sometime in the future if we continue to exist in any way. And if those beautiful places are not slag piles by then. 😭
Horrible experience - but the days of work exchange on tourist visas are long gone anywhere. I also wonder if she had the right travel insurance - all too many have been caught by that too and that means goodbye family home or worse. If you want to travel, save up first and be a genuine tourist.
“There were other tourists, too. Bana, from Romania, was on holiday in Canada & visited Peace Arch park, on the int’l boundary between the US & Canada. Taking selfies w/her husband when a US border official told her they had strayed into US territory without the right visa & took her into custody.”
The level of inhumanity described here should be unimaginable. A tourist in Canada arrested, shacked and held for who knows how long for accidently stepping onto US territory in a Canadian-US park. The US isn't safe for anyone to visit at this point.
Yes, I was particularly taken aback by that story. Why not just tell her to step 10 feet north. It is a park, I have been there, there is no delineation. What a shithole country. WTF is the logic of only allowing deposits from a US account. Isn't that the literal opposite of the way it should be?
It’s useful to know the detention center she was held was the Northwest ICE Processing Center , in Tacoma, Washington, but run by a subcontractor of ICE, known as, “The GEO Group”, which receives very low marks not only by its own employees,
but has been sanctioned and sued numerous times for human rights and other violations. The time to expose their brute thuggery and wickedness is long past due.
Sadly it’s not just for four years. Trump and Vance made their vision of America’s future perfectly clear during a long election campaign and the voters were content. This is now America.
Adolf Hitler utilized guilt by association after the unsuccessful assassination attempt, a strategy that is mirrored by RACIRS agents worldwide. To learn more and stand up for democracy, watch the documentary "The Impact"
The sad thing is the artist community in America was highlighting Burke’s plight when it was happening whilst not a peep was heard from British media until now.
Very good read! A society which allows prisons and detention centers to be run by private companies for profit has lost every ethical and moral basis. (Unfortunately it already existed long before Trump.) US was always a shithole in many areas, now unbearable.
These immigration officers are just blindly following unclear instructions. Rather than using logic and reason, they just want to obey and keep their jobs. Meanwhile, innocent people are punished. Why would anyone want to visit the U.S.?
What a God forsaken country!. I have crossed the 🇺🇸-🇨🇦 a number of times during Obama era. Not a pleasant experience. Lots of aggressive macho men with their hands on their sidearms. And I don’t scare easy having crossed the militarised 🇮🇪-🇬🇧 with Army pointing weapons at me. They however were polite.
Happy to have cancelled my attendance to a business council next month. I’ve been attending it since 2016, once a year. Not anymore, at least with this administration.
A Police State. Your country is now a Police State. Arrestation on a wim, detention without motive, you're only a small step away from Russian police who ask for a payoff to release you. Land of free and home of the brave my ass.
"When she tried to cross into Canada, Canadian border officials told her that her living arrangements meant she should be travelling on a work visa, not a tourist one. They sent her back to the US, where American officials classed her as an illegal alien."
The service she used, Workaway, clearly states that clients must have appropriate visas. Canadian officials were enforcing our laws, and they are not obliged to conceal the reason why she wasn't admissible to Canada. We have working agreements with the US. Becky did it to herself.
This is really abuse of power. Someone LEAVING the US... they detain and hold them. It's not remotely sensible, it's malevolent.
It's also not remotely "efficient" as they are pretending to be obsessed with.
It costs money and time to detain a person... and it's ridiculous if they're leaving.
This white British tourist is just a glaring example if why NO ONE would want to build a plant in this country to expand their business.
Most countries actually care about and protect their citizens. They don't shackle them and send them to Trump's concentration camps. NO ONE is safe here anymore
Did anyone actually read the fucking article? Canada turned her away for not having a proper visa, and the US put her in custody for the same. The dreamy life of a romantic vagabond is fraught with real peril. This type is thing has been happening every day since forever.
The correct response morally is for her to be escorted to the closest airport with routes back to her home country and have her board on the first available flight. Not put her in a for profit American prison.
Stop weeping for every white women who thought she could get away with whatever she wants and then throws herself on a swooning couch when she's caught.
I fell in love with New England many years ago, it completely stole my heart. The vibrancy and history of Boston is matched only by the sprawling beauty of rural Maine and NH, I've been saving for years to go back with a big budget and do/see everything
We’d love to have you… later! Not safe now. Honestly I’d leave here if I could… can’t really leave with 2 kids and my husband’s job is here. Keep us in your thoughts! We are worried for our safety! 😬
she was working (for her board) in violation of her visa, she was on a tourist visa which prohibits working in any fashion. she broke the law and faced the consequences, a do nothing story
The article states Canada prevented her from entering the country due to the tourist visa not valid for her style of travel (working for accommodation). 🤭
Yes, there is no excuse for the US behaving this way.
While that much is true, in normal circumstances that would result in deportation usually within 48 hours. Not detainment for over 2 weeks and being sent back chained.
That’s correct that it was Canadian CBSA border officials who blocked her from entry to Canada and delivered Becky back to the US border. Disappointing as a Canadian to learn that!
Unless countrymen listen to leaders like Mark Carney who advised being kind and welcoming to USA visitors. And as long as USA travelers are also respectful and kind.
I hope not to the good ones. I'm Canadian and have friends who are decent, scared Americans. One of them asked me if she would be able to go to Europe if she ever got the chance, given how the world hates America (has been saving for years). I told her it's ok if she wears a "FUCK TRUMP" hat?
I don't like Trump BUT she was working on a tourist visa.
Work is any activity which you receive compensation for.
"Becky had always travelled with a tourist visa in the past without any problems" This shows the arrogance "She broke the law once and got away with it. Why not again?"
Workaway has a little reminder to get the proper visa: "We are not able to arrange visas. We just post the listings. Please remember it is your responsibility to obtain the correct visa for any country you intend visiting." Buried in FAQ part two.
Someone posted that the agency she booked with was called WorkAway and had a pop-up advising people to get the right visa. It's like people who decide to move to a country without having the minimum monthly income required for long term residence. You can't apply for legal residence.
I don’t think it is even that. She was not doing paid work, so why would she need a work visa? That may or may not be the wrong interpretation of the rules, but it is an entirely understandable one.
Totally agree on the basic reason of that setup but immigration law can be pretty binary and unforgiving in my limited experience. One thing that seems clear to me is that Workaway should probably do more to help young people understand the basic legal issues around the offering?
A lot of countries are quite restrictive about work permits, including the UK and Australia. A common rules is you need to be sponsored by an employer who is willing to say that you have unique skills that locals don't have (a willingness to be exploited is not skill).
But doing a few chores is not a job. I accept that immigration laws might see it differently. I just don’t share the attitude of many here that this woman “obviously should have known”, or that what happened to her wasn’t outrageous regardless of whether she had breached her visa conditions.
The Workaway site does mention some hosts will have to pay $ to comply with local employment laws, and people should get the proper visas as Workaway doesn't do that for them.
You can't sell yourself as a slave. Room and board as compensation severely restricts local domestic worker's lives. Must pay some cash. So the employers beat the system by importing some tourists who don't know local laws.
That was a very good article, what a fucked up situation though. There's no chance i'll travel to the USA as long as the maga sickness isn't contained.
Don’t travel to the US unless it’s a necessity. Even US schoolchildren returning from trips with their teachers, including people with disabilities, are being separated from their chaperones and harassed by CBP.
It's a grift. For-profit detention centers. They don't care if you don't belong there. You are a means for them to make money.
This is what MAGA thinks makes America great.
In reality, America is doomed until we get rid of this fascist regime and send the racist red hats back into hiding.
Yeah if you come to the US and work illegally for money or in exchange for accommodation then you will have violated the terms of your tourist visa and be liable to deportation or detention.
Pretty much any country will deport you if you work illegally as a foreigner.
They didn’t just deport her though. They imprisoned her and prevented her from leaving for over two weeks. She could have been escorted to the nearest airport, held by customs until her flight left. But instead, they kidnapped and imprisoned her, all on the American tax dollar.
Eh no, they treated her like an illegal immigrant, as such she would’ve needed to be sentenced to deportation by a judge, so that’s why she was detained.
She wasn’t kidnapped.
She was the one who knowingly violating her visas, and was stupid enough to admit it to Canadian immigration officers
She qualified for both voluntary departure and/or expedited removal, neither require a hearing. They do need approval by a judge (which in normal times is quick). However, over 700 immigration judges have been fired or have resigned under Trump, so they may not have had access to one.
So she had to be legally detained until her case could be heard by an available judge then…
Also she was technically handed over by Canada trying to enter there illegally, so it’s not like she was trying to board a flight to Heathrow and they arrested her.
Not true actually. Work-trade travel has been a well-established practice for ages. Nannies, seasonal workers picking apples/ wine harvest, etc is a common and accepted way for young people to see the world & declared at intl (incl US) without issue and visa laws (until now) did not preclude it.
You’re wrong that’s a H4/H2B visa not tourist visa, you can’t do any work on a B2 tourist visa, even volunteering for a non profit in exchange for any compensation including housing is a violation of tourist visa.
My sister just moved to Portugal. She has US and Irish passports, her husband only US, both born in the US. They think they'll be popping back and forth on vacay jaunts as "citizens of the world" whenever they wish. I fear they'll both be flagged as suspicious travelers and end up with ICE.
Listen please, they still flag citizens based on looks, now it’s going to be worse, today in this case a “white” and young with beard, returning to the US, at the airport in Portugal! Put in list, for next return…. Source: my circle.
My sister thinks I'm an idiot and doesn't listen to my warnings. She wanted me to move to France. Her husband returns to US this week, she stays in Portugal. If he has any problems w/customs, I suspect he'll flake out on going back, leaving her alone. I don't think they realize the danger.
As for me, im considering travels for a wedding in Africa. Even though we would be together, I’m the immigrant. Tragic what if’s, along with not traveling for more than a decade. Lots to consider, we must set priorities and safety. We’ll see what happens next, right?
I used to travel widely a lot, but haven't left the US since 2016, right after Trump was elected the first time. I feared what he'd do then, and this time he's making all my fears about leaving/entering the country come true, so I'm staying put for the duration.
🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨
WARNING ‼️‼️‼️
Foreign students, tourists, researchers & other visitors should not — for any reason — travel to the United States. It is not safe! You could be arrested, imprisoned, deported & tortured.
🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨
@bbcnewsnight.bsky.social
@theguardian.com l
@thetimes.com
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But they did not deport her, they sent her to an ICE jail, because Trump donors who built all those jails need to buy bigger and more expensive houses. That is what America has become all about, unfortunately.
And not letting her leave right then? She wasn’t trying to live in the US, she had the means to buy a ticket and fly home. The shackles were bad, but worse was that they needlessly imprisoned her for so long. Preventing her from leaving.
Doesn’t appear there was any chance of voluntary removal. Sure she would have left on the next flight if she could. Shackled & detained is way over the top.
She wasn't technically working, but she was eligible to apply for the correct one at the border. People are legally allowed to apply for a different type of visa at the border if the one they have is incorrect. They do not normally get detained over it. What happened to her is not normal or legal.
Um ... no, this is a large portion of the "illegals" we have, and how they're now being treated. Get it? People are crowing about getting rid of "illegal immigrants" just like this.
It **IS** the new normal! That's the problem! Out of status people are being treated like criminals, when it's not a crime, but an infraction, like a parking ticket! Immigration courts are administrative courts, not criminal courts.
When you believe this is ‘the new normal’, it will be. When you fight against it and keep telling everyone it is NOT normal, it will never become normal.
The fascist keep repeating their lies until everybody believes them. Don’t follow them in this #fcknzs
Why didn’t the British authorities come help? I don’t understand why the home countries aren’t advocating for their citizens who were illegally detained. Help me understand!
I read it as she still had a month left on her American vista. It was her Canada vista that needed to be edited. The changes had to be done while she was still on her valid American vista.
Yes, the current regime in the US is awful, but watch some Border Patrol YouTube videos taken in Australia. They may be more humane and ship home faster the people claiming to be tourists while having a stack of resumes in their luggage, but it's still working on a tourist visa.
My friend got a broken rib from being manhandled when he crossed at Niagara because they didn't like how he rolled his eyes when they randomly selected his car to be searched
I was once questioned at the Canadian border, reentering at Peace Arch and the dude wanted to know why I didn't have my husbands last name....we are both born and bred Canadians. Like, why are you giving me a hard time? Have you not heard of women keeping their last name? If we were friends, WTF?
America was always an illusion. It's always been a poorly educated, insular, racist wilderness, founded on genocide and slavery. A sprinkle of civilization on either coast do not make a "western democracy"
They’re rapidly turning the U.S into a repressive state. Such a great pity, I have been a visitor many times and have enjoyed the country and its open, friendly people. I don’t think I will return as long as that orange idiot and his vile henchmen continue to destroy America
Interesting to see the unsympathetic replies on here. Some seem to have joined BlueSky in order to make them. Is this place going the way of the other place?
Yeah, there is an LGBT person who is American, but lives in Nicaragua shitting all over this person saying she is "whining about getting caught". Seems to me this person should visit her homeland and report back to us on how it goes.
Indeed. Even starting from the position that she breached her visa conditions - and it doesn’t seem certain to me that what she did was a breach - any fault on her part cannot remotely justify the disgusting and humiliating treatment that followed.
People may want to see the rest of the world as cheaply as possible by taking a local maid's low paid job for free, but that's working without a work permit and often in breach of local laws.
Countries want tourism as a cash infusion supporting local jobs. They're not interested in the foreign tourist's curiosity about a nation they visit for a couple of weeks without spending money.
She experienced the effect of Trump's draconian change in American society. Trump is isolating us in the world, putting up walls, and this seen are first steps. I expect it can get worse, she was snatched and shipped to El Salvador. That's for next year. During the Cold War, Russia closed down, too.
We experienced the grim windowless corridors of the immigration basement of Seattle airport a few years ago. Not a pleasant experience even as innocent tourists
"Becky wasn’t someone who liked to be immersed in global news. But, even if she had been, she could never have foreseen what would happen to her." Her willful disregard for applying for the appropriate travel visa was entirely foreseeable. She did not get the right visa for either the US or Canada.
You apparently missed the part where she did look up work visas and it said they were only required for paid work. Given she was not going to receive any pay from any of her homestays, she made a rational decision. Any good lawyer could get her ban reversed on that technicality.
The company she booked her stays through advises its clients to apply for appropriate visas. Dunno, maybe they think it's important? They also say to go to the country's consulate for that advice. She couldn't be arsed.
I checked the company's site & nowhere does it say 'go to the country's consulate for advice'. At most, under the heading "Can I Use Workaway to Find Paid Work" it states "Remember you will need the correct visa for any country that you visit."
There's a big clue in the name of the service she booked through - Workaway, and they thoughtfully have a popup that advises users to get the right visa. They can do no more for clients. How can countries control offences like human trafficking if travellers don't think the rules apply to them?
She failed to observe visa requirements and worked in a foreign country without permission. She knew what she was doing. There are consequences for that. And there's no guarantee that if she were released to travel on her own dime, she'd be compliant and leave. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
Comments
I say that in semi-jest.
The Canadians did this.
It's also not remotely "efficient" as they are pretending to be obsessed with.
It costs money and time to detain a person... and it's ridiculous if they're leaving.
Most countries actually care about and protect their citizens. They don't shackle them and send them to Trump's concentration camps. NO ONE is safe here anymore
There's no way in Hell I'm going there now
A bazillion years ago, we drove up through Alberta and British Columbia on our way to Alaska. BC is stunning.
Yes, there is no excuse for the US behaving this way.
Work is any activity which you receive compensation for.
"Becky had always travelled with a tourist visa in the past without any problems" This shows the arrogance "She broke the law once and got away with it. Why not again?"
This is what MAGA thinks makes America great.
In reality, America is doomed until we get rid of this fascist regime and send the racist red hats back into hiding.
Pretty much any country will deport you if you work illegally as a foreigner.
She wasn’t kidnapped.
She was the one who knowingly violating her visas, and was stupid enough to admit it to Canadian immigration officers
Also she was technically handed over by Canada trying to enter there illegally, so it’s not like she was trying to board a flight to Heathrow and they arrested her.
🤷🏻♂️
WARNING ‼️‼️‼️
Foreign students, tourists, researchers & other visitors should not — for any reason — travel to the United States. It is not safe! You could be arrested, imprisoned, deported & tortured.
🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨
@bbcnewsnight.bsky.social
@theguardian.com l
@thetimes.com
@skynewsrss.bsky.social
You cannot work in the US on a tourist visa.
Shackling her seems over the top.
The fascist keep repeating their lies until everybody believes them. Don’t follow them in this #fcknzs
Experience at Ft Francis crossing. Wierd
I need to get out of here.