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posted by martyb on Tuesday May 02 2017, @05:54PM   Printer-friendly
from the Get-Me-Outta-Here! dept.

The Guardian

An Australian man has been handcuffed and locked up in a US detention centre after apparently breaching his visa conditions by just over one hour.

Sydney man Baxter Reid, 26, was in the US on a five-year visa and had travelled to Canada as part of a requirement for him to exit and re-enter America every six months to keep his visa valid.

But his American girlfriend Heather Kansco said Reid was arrested by US Border Patrol officers on 23 April after delays receiving clearance to cross into Canada meant he breached his visa conditions by just over an hour.

According to Kansco's account, the couple were given "the runaround" for more than four hours at the US-Canada border. By the time Canadian authorities referred them back to US Border Patrol, Reid had "technically violated his visa requirements".

"The US Border Patrol ended up taking Baxter away, because after waiting for hours with the Canadians, he ... was illegally in the US for a SINGLE HOUR," wrote Kansco.

Australian Broadcast Corp

A Canberra man has been detained in the United States for reportedly overstaying his visa by less than two hours.

... Mr Reid's brother, Alexander, said Canadian officials did not want to let Baxter through because his visa was close to expiring. "Because they had kept him, his visa had expired by 90 minutes," he said.

"He wants to go back home, but he wants to go of his own accord," Alexander said. "He doesn't want to get deported because he still wants to go back to the US because that's where his girlfriend lives."

"He wants to get a court date so he can say to the judge 'I was leaving [of] my own accord, I don't want to stay here illegally'," he said.

"But unfortunately a court date can be anywhere from a few weeks to six months.

"He could be locked up in detention for months only because his visa expired by 90 minutes."

Offering (forced) accommodation for free (on tax money) for at least a few weeks will prove a good investment in advertising the US tourism industry, right?


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  • (Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 02 2017, @06:32PM (20 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 02 2017, @06:32PM (#503018)

    Whining about his visa having expired by only 90 minutes is silly. The guy just doesn't plan things out well. Obviously, keeping his visa in order should be a priority in his life. He should have made his trip to Canada weeks ago. The real question here is whether he will be allowed to straighten this out and return to his lifestyle. It seems reasonable to me, assuming no other criminal behavior, that he should be allowed to do so. I don't have a problem with his being temporarily detained.

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  • (Score: 2) by sjames on Tuesday May 02 2017, @07:02PM (1 child)

    by sjames (2882) on Tuesday May 02 2017, @07:02PM (#503047) Journal

    So you enjoy when people are dicks?

    I guess you also enjoy all the money being wasted on processing and detaining him when they could have just said "screw it, he's trying to leave, let him".

    The world runs better and is a much more pleasant place to live when there's a little slack in the system. I don't appreciate these border officers pissing in the punch bowl.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 02 2017, @08:57PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 02 2017, @08:57PM (#503143)

      This is evidence that USA has an overabundance of "law enforcement" with little actual serious crime to attend to.
      It's the mark of a police state and one of the signs of the end of an empire.
      It's the shooting-people-in-the-back-for-jaywalking thing all over again.

      It's a giant waste of money and a degradation of civil liberties.
      It's a replay of Europe in the 1930s.

      ...and OBTW, actual serious crime rates have been going down since we decided to take the lead out of paint and gasoline.
      If you're swallowing the Reactionary bullshit that says otherwise and which tries to get you to vote for Authoritarians/a police state, you're showing how gullible and downright stupid you are.
      You have a better chance of getting killed by lightning than being killed by a terrorist.

      -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

  • (Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Tuesday May 02 2017, @07:15PM (5 children)

    by hemocyanin (186) on Tuesday May 02 2017, @07:15PM (#503057) Journal

    I agree. The brouhaha seems to be that the the visa was expired by 90 minutes, but since he was denied entry to Canada, the clock was just going to inexorably continue ticking away to larger numbers and some point, the time would have been large enough to not be headline-worthy -- he faced the exact same problem whether he was arrested a month hence or right there on the spot (where no resources had to be expended tracking him down).

    Anyway, when you wait till the last minute, you gamble on having zero-hiccups. Smart people build in some time so that when things go wrong, there is an opportunity to correct.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 02 2017, @08:28PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 02 2017, @08:28PM (#503120)

      I admit I'm not familiar with all the Canada-US land crossings, but normally you cross the border first, then you report to immigration and customs. When driving the roads are set up in this manner, usually with a lot of signs indicating that once you cross the border, you must report to Canadian immigration and the only way back is through US immigration.

      What I don't understand from TFA is why, if Mr. Reid reported to Canadian immigration officials on Canadian soil, he was not considered to have left the United States?

      • (Score: 2) by NewNic on Tuesday May 02 2017, @09:23PM (1 child)

        by NewNic (6420) on Tuesday May 02 2017, @09:23PM (#503174) Journal

        I admit I'm not familiar with all the Canada-US land crossings, but normally you cross the border first, then you report to immigration and customs.

        Not really correct. You leave one country and are in a kind of Schoedinger's land until you pass through immigration to enter the other country.

        Imagine landing at a US airport from an international flight. You have some fresh fruit in your bag. You haven't passed immigration, are you in the USA, or not? You are not protected by the constitution (according to the INS), yet you can be fined for importing the fruit. Which is it, in the USA or not? It's Schroedinger's land: whether you are in the USA or not depends on what the authorities want.

        --
        lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 02 2017, @10:48PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 02 2017, @10:48PM (#503238)

          Not really correct. You leave one country and are in a kind of Schoedinger's land until you pass through immigration to enter the other country.

          Whether or not it's "Schrödinger's land" he still left the US, right? I think you're agreeing with me. He presumably was on Canadian soil when he was detained by Canadian officers. In order to re-enter the US from that position he would have to go through US immigration, the same way as anyone else entering the US from Canada.

          So I am puzzled how he managed to actually overstay his visa in the US, if he in fact left. Article does not explain.

          Could it be that he was simply denied entry to the US (the normal way) after being denied entry to Canada? This indeed would put him in a bit of a pickle at a Canada-US border crossing, but doesn't really have much to do with overstaying a visa.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 02 2017, @10:41PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 02 2017, @10:41PM (#503230)

      Such authoritarian boot lickers such as yourself are what make it really hard to keep coming back to these discussions. The worst part is justifications such as

      Smart people build in some time...

      It makes you feel smugly superior and justified, I can only hope that at some future point you are in the same position and you get screwed over when the bureaucrat decides to give you hell for a minor infraction.

      Ever seen this sub? Your very own fan page! [reddit.com]

      • (Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Tuesday May 02 2017, @11:01PM

        by hemocyanin (186) on Tuesday May 02 2017, @11:01PM (#503258) Journal

        If he had gotten the run-around a week before his Visa expired, he could have gone back the next day, and the next, and the next ....

        So yes. Had he been smart, he would have foreseen that things don't always go as planned. Not engaging in such planning, is called being shortsighted. Kind of like if you need to be at meeting in a spot a 90 minute drive (perfect conditions) away which goes through a major city. If you don't give yourself sufficient cushion for bad traffic, you're unreliable and potentially dangerous if you attempt to make it up with aggressive driving. It's called planning, thinking ahead -- it's what smart people do.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 02 2017, @08:27PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 02 2017, @08:27PM (#503119)

    I agree, he should have done it sooner, but the reason for delaying him was that his visa would be expiring soon, not that it had already expired, and that delay is what caused it to expire. How does that make any sense?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 02 2017, @10:56PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 02 2017, @10:56PM (#503247)

      the reason for delaying him was that his visa would be expiring soon, not that it had already expired, and that delay is what caused it to expire. How does that make any sense?

      Canada, as a sovereign country, has sole prerogative to deny entry to any foreign national. It doesn't have to make sense.

  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday May 02 2017, @08:38PM (9 children)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday May 02 2017, @08:38PM (#503130) Journal

    Of course, the authoritarian. It was bound that at least one would raise his head.

    > Obviously, keeping his visa in order should be a priority in his life.
    Because surely that's what a tourist actually seeks when he goes abroad. Fuck good time, live in fear what the authorities can do to you, right?

    > I don't have a problem with his being temporarily detained.
    This is why I won't visit USA in a good while: too many of you lost the common sense.

    Your position: .rules are rules and they must be obeyed, right? You even pay from your pocket (by taxes) too see that he's detained.
    Sure, because let him leave the country in time (he was there 4 hours in advance, showing willingness to comply with the rules) or just fine him (and get some money instead of spending them) - those are ideas that can't possibly get through your skull.
    These ideas are too common-sensical, thinking is forbidden, rules are supreme, right?

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 02 2017, @08:56PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 02 2017, @08:56PM (#503141)

      Befehl ist Befehl

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 02 2017, @10:00PM (7 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 02 2017, @10:00PM (#503202)

      Your rant would be on point if this were simply a tourist who overstayed his visa by a few days, and was returning to his country of origin. Reid was actually cobbling together long term residency in the US by leaving and returning. It had nothing to do with tourism. My point was that he had six months to work with. It should have been easy for him to keep this up. He just couldn't be bothered with making it a priority. I don't recommend lending money to a guy like this.

      In regard to being detained, I was thinking it would be for hours, or maybe days. I see that there is some concern that it could be weeks or months. That would be unreasonable.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 02 2017, @10:46PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 02 2017, @10:46PM (#503235)

        As was pointed out the guy was there early. Just because you take some issue with his actions does not make this detention any better.

        To take it to the extreme: "civil rights violations are totally fine against that person, because they did something wrong!"

        There are very important reasons why we have the concept of human rights, and why we created the concept of war crimes. Don't support the slow slide backwards with your straw man logic.

        • (Score: 2) by draconx on Wednesday May 03 2017, @12:02AM

          by draconx (4649) on Wednesday May 03 2017, @12:02AM (#503314)

          As was pointed out the guy was there early. Just because you take some issue with his actions does not make this detention any better.

          The guy was detained by Canadian border officials while attempting to enter Canada. As a foreign national he does have rights at Canadian ports of entry but "the right not to be detained for any amount of time" is not one of them.

          The article does not say what class of US visa he had, but given these shenanigans I expect it was a B-2 (tourist) visa. It sounds like Canadian officials did not like the smell of how he was using that tourist visa, and may have denied him entry to Canada for that reason.

      • (Score: 2) by NewNic on Tuesday May 02 2017, @10:49PM (3 children)

        by NewNic (6420) on Tuesday May 02 2017, @10:49PM (#503241) Journal

        Then change the laws.

        If you think he should not have been doing this, then US law should not allow someone to return for some period of time after a six month stay.

        He was trying to comply with the laws but some thug with a badge decided to waste resources in order to make a completely pointless issue.

        --
        lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
        • (Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Tuesday May 02 2017, @11:04PM

          by hemocyanin (186) on Tuesday May 02 2017, @11:04PM (#503262) Journal

          I hate the Border Patrol as much as anyone, but to be fair, it was a Canadian thug who caused the problem.

        • (Score: 2) by draconx on Tuesday May 02 2017, @11:30PM (1 child)

          by draconx (4649) on Tuesday May 02 2017, @11:30PM (#503290)

          I don't think we have the whole story. We have only heard from Mr. Reid's family, and I suspect the 90 minute thing may be a red herring.

          This guy was just denied entry to Canada, perhaps because Canadian officials do not like to grant entry to people playing visa games like this. Since Mr. Reid is not a resident of Canada, Canadian officials have no obligation to grant him entry to Canada.

          Then he tried to re-enter the US, and he may have simply been denied entry to the US as well. Perhaps US officials also do not like people playing visa games like this. Since Mr. Reid is not a resident of the US, US officials have no obligation to grant him entry to the US.

          At a Canada-US land crossing, being denied entry to both countries would definitely put Mr. Reid between a rock and a hard place since there's nowhere else to go. So it makes sense that the US would detain him until they can get him on a plane to Australia.

          • (Score: 2) by driverless on Wednesday May 03 2017, @12:05AM

            by driverless (4770) on Wednesday May 03 2017, @12:05AM (#503318)

            This guy was just denied entry to Canada, perhaps because Canadian officials do not like to grant entry to people playing visa games like this.

            Every country's immigration people are quite used to this. Around here (not the US or Canada, incidentally), they're called "visa trips", take the cheapest flight over, get your passport stamped, sit in a cafe for awhile, then get a flight back.

      • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday May 02 2017, @11:01PM

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday May 02 2017, @11:01PM (#503255) Journal

        Your rant would be on point if this were simply a tourist who overstayed his visa by a few days, and was returning to his country of origin...
        It had nothing to do with tourism...

        My points:
        1. common sense from the part of border agents missing - that means: what would have been the best outcome for US? I guess that would have been the border agent applying some discretionary lenience; maybe scare him up a bit, arrest him for 2-3 hours in an office then let then him go;
        2. you're saying it like during his 5 years of staying, he wouldn't contribute to US tourism a bit; like don't spend anything of his own, live on the streets, put a pressure on the health system, etc. I really doubt this is the case. If 5 years isn't tourism, why there is a US 5 years tourist visa (B2)?

        I don't recommend lending money to a guy like this.

        Doh... like lending money was a point of discussion or someone would ask for your recommendation.

        In regard to being detained, I was thinking it would be for hours, or maybe days. I see that there is some concern that it could be weeks or months. That would be unreasonable.

        Something I agree with.

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford