I was a British tourist trying to leave America. Then I was detained, shackled and sent to an immigration detention centre
I was a British tourist trying to leave America. Then I was detained, shackled and sent to an immigration detention centre
Graphic artist Rebecca Burke was on the trip of a lifetime. But as she tried to leave the US she was stopped, interrogated and branded an illegal alien by ICE. Now back home, she tells others thinking of going to Trump’s America: don’t do it
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This article could have been written as a warning to others about lying to Immigration officials and the possible repercussions but they just go straight to making this girl the poor victim.
The whole article can be summed up with, If you lie to ICE (FA) and they find out (FO) you're going to have a bad time.
She had been travelling on her own, staying on homestays free of charge in exchange for doing household chores, drawing as she went. For Burke, 28, it was absolute freedom.
It's not free of charge if you have to work in exchange for room and board. She was employed by the home owners and instead of cash she got a room.
Her whole trip was planned around working off her room and board with manual labor. She knew exactly what she was doing, she lied, she got caught.
Yeah, doing chores around the house in exchange for stay is "payment". No money exchanges hands, she gets to make friends, sometimes even have a personal guide, she wasn't short on money and could pay for groceries herself, she even had the money to pay for a flight home.
Framing this as "she was employed" is ludicrous. Painting it as if she was dependent on it is ridiculous. Locking her up instead of sending her straight home is bonkers.
Also saying she was "fucking around" is a straight lie. She told ICE she was there with Workaway. She actually told them the truth. Lying would've been "I paid for my stay".
I know empathy is difficult on the internet, but it seems like reading is even more difficult for you.
Framing this as "she was employed" is ludicrous. Painting it as if she was dependent on it is ridiculous. Locking her up instead of sending her straight home is bonkers.
And if it had been employment, the correct law enforcement action would've been to arrest her host for trafficking/modern slavery/failing to pay minimum wage, not go after her, the victim.
You're angry at America and ICE, but it was Canada that refused her entry and first took issue with her activity. After that, when she immediately came back across the border, America was pretty much obligated to look into things.
They definitely should have just deported her immediately, but she apparently did break the visa terms. I read somewhere it was to do with her giving tattoos, or at least that was part of the accusation against her.
3 weeks' detention is the fucked up part.
You’re angry at America and ICE, but it was Canada that refused her entry and first took issue with her activity
It's amazing how you put those right and wrongs side by side in one sentance and still do not understand the issue. They're angry because canada did the right thing and told her to go back where she came from. USA detained her, jailed her and kept her imprisoned without allowing her to leave without any due process, all based on vibes. They could've detained her until her flight came to get her out of US.
Given the opportunity Canada did not do what usa does. USA is NOT a safe country to travel to and nobody should go there.
The USA detained her at the border because a) there was no direct way for her to go back home from the US/Canada land border; b) she had been refused entry by Canada, who have similar entry requirements, meaning the US should be refusing her entry also; and c) she had already been in the country for 3 weeks and they needed to investigate what she had been doing. That's an awful lot more than just "vibes".
But yes, as I said in my comment above, the length of detention is the real fucked up part. That's longer than needed to sort the logistics or perform any necessary investigations, and proves that this is just about filling private prisons at the expense of taxpayers.
Canada was not in the same position as the US, so the two responses aren't directly comparable. However, you're right that the US is not a safe country - I'd even caution US citizens against crossing the border right now.
I read somewhere it was to do with her giving tattoos, or at least that was part of the accusation against her.
I think you're confusing this with other needless detentions. That one was at the Mexican border, and I think the woman was German. It's difficult to keep track though.
Three Germans. Mentioned in the article. One over a month in a detention center with 8 days of solitary confinement.
That one was at the Mexican border, and I think the woman was German.
You might be right, I remember the tattoo one being a girl who was turned away at another border before being detained by the US on her way back. If that happened in Mexico as well it's easy to see why the two could get confused.
Like I say though the fucked up part is the lengthy detention. That doesn't benefit anyone except the private prisons, at the expense of American taxpayers.
That maybe so, but why such an excessive stay? Stick her on a plane, sorted.
While I agree the time in detention was excessive, this wasn't at an airport, it was at the Canadian land border. So it's understandable that she wouldn't immediately get on a plane back home - she'd likely have to be taken to a central facility and then transferred to an airport. But yeah, that shouldn't take 3 weeks.
They had to do that to deport her anyway.
Yes that's my point. There's a bit more of a process from the Canadian land border than at an airport. At an airport, you'd just be turned around and paying for a flight. At the land border - particularly the border between two countries that don't want you - it's going to take a bit longer because the logistics are more complicated. Also, there might be some kind of investigation, as she has already been staying in the country for several weeks at this point.
However we should be talking about like 3-4 days at most (if that), not 3 weeks.
If they didn't want to go to prison, they shouldn't have stolen the candy bar. FAFO! Also I hate authoritarians. FREEDOM!
Okay Maga Hat.
Because what the ICE did, while maybe de jure legal, was overexatturated?