Visa rule warning as tourist detained at US border

A Welsh woman has spoken about being held in "horrendous" conditions after she was accused of "violating" her visa and was stopped at the US border.

Becky Burke, 28, has spent 11 days in a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing centre in Washington State and was also denied entry into Canada, over a "visa mix-up".

Her father, Paul Burke, has urged travellers to be "very careful" about their visa requirements.

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

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said it could not comment on specific cases for privacy reasons, but added: "All persons arriving at a port-of-entry to the United States are subject to inspection.

"CBP officers treat all travellers with integrity, respect, professionalism and according to law.

"In the event a foreign national is found inadmissible to the United States, CBP will provide the foreign national an opportunity to procure travel to his or her home country.

"If the foreign national is unable to do so, he or she will be turned over to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO) for repatriation."

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) confirmed it was supporting a British national.

Ms Burke, an artist from Portskewett, Monmouthshire, began backpacking around the US on 7 January.

She had flown from New York to Portland, Oregon, where she spent time with a host family, helping with household chores in return for accommodation.

At the end of February she travelled to Seattle with plans to travel to Vancouver in Canada to stay with another family.

However, when she reached the border, Mr Burke said the Canadian authorities denied her entry as they were concerned she may try to work illegally.

She described how she spent six hours at the border, waiting while officials were "trying to determine if what I had been doing in America counted as work".

She said she was "interrogated" and, despite explaining she was "not paid at all", it was decided she had "violated" her visa.

Ms Burke said she was being held in a dormitory of 110 people in a "maxed out" immigration detention centre in Tacoma, Washington.

"They wake us up at 6:30am. There is never enough time to sleep. It's so cold," she said.

"I wear the same jumper for a week. They're short or out of stuff, like blankets and extra clothes. I have one towel."

She added many of the people she had met were "stuck" at the centre, separated from their families - in some cases, for years.

"Everyone is actually really shocked when I explain my situation," she added.

"I came to the US for the first time two years ago... I had a great time, that's why I wanted to come back again. I love nature and hiking. Now I see no nature in here at all."

Immigration experts tell the BBC that once Ms Burke informed Canadian officials of her plans and they denied her entry, a suspension of her visa waiver and detention on the US side was probably unavoidable.

Many countries strictly interpret what constitutes compensated work - even if no money changes hands. And under the best of circumstances, processing within by the US immigration system can move slowly.

Circumstances are far from usual in the US at the moment, however. The Trump administration has stepped up immigration enforcement across the US, so these experts caution that anyone entering the country should be careful to ensure that all their documents are in order and that they are clear about their intentions upon entering the country.

American immigration policy and enforcement is changing under the new administration, and there is less tolerance for even seemingly honest mistakes.

Such advice comes too late for Ms Burke, who is currently caught in a bureaucratic limbo. She's trying to stay detached from this, trying to see this as an experience to talk to the people in there and share their stories as well.

It's an unusual circumstance - she says she is unlike most of the more than 100 detainees in her building in Tacoma - many of whom have been held for months or even years. She wants to travel back to her home in the UK as soon as possible, while others she speaks to, from places like Mexico, Brazil and Russia, have family in the US and are unwilling or unable to return to their home nations.

According to the experts, we probably won't have any advance notice of when she is allowed to get on a plane and leave. It could happen, and her family find out about it after the fact.

Ms Burke's dad described the situation as a misunderstanding of her accommodation arrangements, which were "just like a cultural exchange".

He said Ms Burke got free accommodation for helping host families "around the house", which he believes authorities may have suspected broke the terms of her tourist visa.

Mr Burke told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast he could not understand why his daughter was "locked up and she's in an orange prison jumpsuit whilst the paperwork gets sorted out".

He said what was meant to be a life-changing backpacking trip "has turned into a nightmare".

He added: "At first she was just distraught. She was inconsolable. She is allowed to ring out using a shared iPad but we can't call her."

The dad said, as their family is not American, they cannot add money to Ms Burke's inmate account for her to buy essentials, so they have reached out to some American friends to help.

Mr Burke said his daughter just wants to come home and has asked for voluntary departure but it has been "radio silence".

The family have been told voluntary departure has to be approved by a judge, but added they do not know "how to make that happen".

Ms Burke's parents said they were in daily contact with the British consulate in San Francisco, which is the nearest one to the detention facility, but claimed "official channels can't get a clear answer about what is going on".

Melissa Chavin, a US immigration lawyer based in London, said Ms Burke could be released either through voluntary departure or expedited removal, but the process of appearing in front of a judge as part of voluntary departure could be delayed because several dozen of the approximately 700 immigration judges had resigned or been fired by the Trump administration.

Trump won the US presidential election last November after promising to strengthen US borders and rigorously enforce immigration law.

Ms Chavin said expedited removal – which allows officials to quickly deport non citizens – had been expanded under President Trump and could now happen anywhere in the country as opposed to within 100 miles of the border.

"That could work out well for [Ms Burke] – in that she could leave quicker," Ms Chavin said, adding that it would also come with a five-year ban on travelling to the United States.

She also urged people travelling to the United States to ensure they can pay for their own accommodation.

Ms Burke said she planned the trip before Trump's presidency, but was "cautious" and aware she would need to prove that she did not intend to stay in the country.

She added she was "lucky" compared to some people who were fighting to remain in the country, and were "stuck between a rock and a hard place".

"Everyone's story is really sad. No one deserves to be in here. Everyone detained here is so nice," she said.

Ms Burke had organised some of her trip through Workaway, which matches hosts with travellers.

A spokesperson for the company said it was "very sad" to hear about what had happened but that it was "the responsibility of the host and person travelling to make sure they are within the law, have the correct visa or permit and insurance in place before travelling".

"Unfortunately if these warning are not followed and someone attempts to enter the United States without the correct permissions or visas in place then the US border control are within their rights to refuse entry."

Ms Burke's family have been in touch with Monmouthshire MP Catherine Fookes, who has raised the case with Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty.

"I am deeply concerned about my constituent's welfare and the distress this situation is causing her and her family," said Ms Fookes.