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Ruminate Mar 10 @ 9:16pm
British tourist detained by US authorities for 10 days over visa issue
"A British tourist on a four-month backpacking trip around North America has been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the US for 10 days after trying to enter the country via the Canadian border.

Rebecca Burke, 28, a graphic artist from Monmouthshire, was trying to cross into the state of Washington when she was refused entry.

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 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.

“She’s basically living with a family, doing a little bit of housework, taking the dog for a walk, whatever it is. She’s been a part of a family,” her father, Paul Burke, a consultant in the steel industry, said.

Canadian authorities told her to go back to the US and fill in new paperwork before returning to cross into Canada.

However, when she tried to re-enter the US she was handcuffed and put in a cell before being taken to Tacoma Northwest detention facility in Washington state."

Is this the right thing to do? Do you think we're using our taxpayer dollars wisely?

Full story:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/mar/10/british-tourist-detained-us-authorities-10-days-visa-issue
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Originally posted by Tonepoet:
Well I mean if she used the word "exchange", and then unfortunately it's predictable that the bureaucrats of the federal government had a fit.

Give your spouse a gift on her anniversary and have sex with her afterwards and that's just plain normal. Give your spouse a gift on her anniversary "in exchange" for sex with her afterwards and suddenly it's prostitution.

Similar logic seems to apply here. Everybody should've probably said she was "volunteered" to do chores if she or anybody else needed to mention it at all. It's just common courtesy to help out with the chores when you are staying as a guest at somebody's house, but once it becomes an "exchange" suddenly it becomes a condition of employment.

Doing chores really shouldn't be a problem if money didn't change hands. I guess maybe that's part of the problem though: The hotel industry must have some extremely deep pockets or something.

Of course, something that the Guardian neglects to mention is the following[www.kuow.org]:


One of Burke's Instagram posts about her North American travel references a company called Workaway. The platform connects travelers with host families or organizations across the world with the idea that they volunteer or provide help in exchange for a place to stay. Workaway describes its system as a "cultural exchange."

While using Workaway to search for host families in the U.S., the website states, "If you are NOT a US CITIZEN and are planning to visit to work, volunteer, or study, YOU WILL NEED THE CORRECT VISA. To find out more information you need to contact the embassy in your home country BEFORE traveling." A similar message appears when searching for hosts in Canada. This notification pops up for some countries but not all.

So it's not exactly like she was staying as a guest with family and friends. This was a room and board in exchange for maid service type arrangement,[www.kuow.org] and it does seem to be technically illegal, irrespective of my thoughts of how slight of a transgression it is or whether it should be or not.

Originally posted by Ulfrinn:
She got deported from Canada for not having the correct paperwork. But you're starting a thread about it because she's getting deported from the US for not having it?

Besides, according to the left, I thought we only deported minorities in the US?

Canadian authorities told her to go back to the U.S.A. to fill out the paperwork to enter Canada legally, so she did but it sounds like when she got to the U.S.A. to comply with Canadian orders, I.C.E. arrested her on the spot.

It is quite a stark difference in approach regarding how the two countries handled her unlawful presence, and somewhat heavy-handed approach on the part of the U.S.A. considering that she seems to have been trying to do things more-or-less properly.

I.C.E. is kind of wasting the U.S.A's. money keeping the woman imprisoned in a case like this, in a day and age when Trump wants to be frugal. Even if the U.S.A. will not tolerate an unlawful presence, it would be cheaper to just give her the option of voluntary departure[www.justice.gov] and send her back to the U.K. than to keep her on lockdown. A 1 stop plane ticket from Seattle to London with Icelandair costs under $200.[www.skyscanner.com]

It probably takes longer than that just for the prosecutor to spend an hour to handle the case. They could be using that holding cell for somebody who's more of a flight risk than a flight back. It's probably not even worth the diplomatic incidence of keeping her effectively imprisoned.[www.kuow.org]


Rebecca Burke said she was issued a "jumper" in the detention center, a place she describes as cold. They keep her and more than 100 other detainees on a strict schedule. Supplies, like blankets, are limited. She has one towel.

"They keep saying in all their booklets that this is not a prison," she told the BBC. "It's hard to distinguish from my conception of a prison."

Really sounds more like the sort of offense where you should just be slapped with a fine and sent back home if anything.
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Showing 1-15 of 69 comments
salamander Mar 10 @ 9:21pm 
another one?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i9pHUbxXjs&ab_channel=P4R4D0X
#1
Ruminate Mar 10 @ 9:22pm 
Originally posted by salamander:
another one?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i9pHUbxXjs&ab_channel=P4R4D0X
Do you think someone will come by and claim that this one was a prostitute too?
#2
salamander Mar 10 @ 9:29pm 
Originally posted by Ruminate:
Originally posted by salamander:
another one?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i9pHUbxXjs&ab_channel=P4R4D0X
Do you think someone will come by and claim that this one was a prostitute too?

give it a few minutes, they sniff out threads like these like sharks smell blood.
#3
The Hatchet man Mar 10 @ 9:30pm 
Good im glad
#4
Ruminate Mar 10 @ 9:30pm 
Originally posted by The Hatchet man:
Good im glad
Why?!?
#5
The Hatchet man Mar 10 @ 9:32pm 
Britan is britan so they stay britan and taxes you get it it's like 45+76 ÷by 45 =y and y is 10 over t so t is 100
#6
Ruminate Mar 10 @ 9:35pm 
Originally posted by The Hatchet man:
Britan is britan so they stay britan and taxes you get it it's like 45+76 ÷by 45 =y and y is 10 over t so t is 100
What are you even saying? Are you 12 years old?!? Stop trolling my thread!
#7
The Hatchet man Mar 10 @ 9:37pm 
Lol I'm joking man yeah it sucks some random dude gets detained by police this happens in different countries all the time and all a sudden America does it and we're evil ha
#8
The Hatchet man Mar 10 @ 9:39pm 
You think we should "use our taxpayer dollars" a different way? How bout the Russian man who was in jail in Russia for 14 years and nobody cares ha
#9
Ruminate Mar 10 @ 9:40pm 
Originally posted by The Hatchet man:
Lol I'm joking man yeah it sucks some random dude gets detained by police this happens in different countries all the time and all a sudden America does it and we're evil ha
First of all...not a dude. Maybe try actually reading the story...

And secondly, no it doesn't happen in different countries all the time and even if it does, that doesn't make it better... it's also a massive waste of taxpayer money to detain and hold people for zero good reason!
#10
Ruminate Mar 10 @ 9:41pm 
Originally posted by The Hatchet man:
You think we should "use our taxpayer dollars" a different way? How bout the Russian man who was in jail in Russia for 14 years and nobody cares ha
What ridiculous whataboutism is this? You think should we be like Russia and jail people just because?
#11
The Hatchet man Mar 10 @ 9:43pm 
Sorry wrong pronouns haha anyway you saying that we do it to a "graphic artist "lol and we're evil and not using our taxpayer dollars correctly but when Russia or China does it it doesn't matter ain't nobody care funny and totally blew over the guy who was in Russian jail for 14 years kinda a problem why not mention him? Just a British lady who got detained for 10 days god I mean 10 days is awful long did she get water?? *a tear falls*
#12
The Hatchet man Mar 10 @ 9:44pm 
You're missing the point we do it and we're evil they do it and I doesn't matter it's like saying boys will be boys why not mention them only mention us
#13
The Hatchet man Mar 10 @ 9:49pm 
Did you fall off the face of the earth?
#14
peppermint hollows Mar 10 @ 9:50pm 
Originally posted by The Hatchet man:
Sorry wrong pronouns haha anyway you saying that we do it to a "graphic artist "lol and we're evil and not using our taxpayer dollars correctly but when Russia or China does it it doesn't matter ain't nobody care funny and totally blew over the guy who was in Russian jail for 14 years kinda a problem why not mention him? Just a British lady who got detained for 10 days god I mean 10 days is awful long did she get water?? *a tear falls*

Not sure what you're talking about. People talk about Russia and China being bad or evil countries all the time. Multiple different things can be bad, but obviously this discussion isn't about Russia or China. I agree with OP, you're arguing like a 12 year old would about this topic.
#15
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Date Posted: Mar 10 @ 9:16pm
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