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

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/

> 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.

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

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

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.

That doesn’t make it legal, particularly in the US

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?

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.

The hint is in the name itself.

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

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.

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.

> When arrested, she has to go through the proper deportation process

Why? Surely if both the US and the deportee agree that deportation is A-OK then you don't need judges and whatnot involved? Surely having a cop drive her to the airport and make sure she gets on a flight is wildly less work involved for everyone than whatever the fuck is going on now?