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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: 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.

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  • (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.