Aussie traveller detained 3 weeks

[Ryan N]

http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/b/sunr...ained-3-weeks/

Aussie traveller detained 3 weeks
Jun 18 03:47pm

Laura McKenzie flew out of Australia last November and she will be returning with a lesson for all Australian travelers.

Her dramatic experience saw her isolated in a detention centre forced to eat with her hands and sleeping on the concrete floor of a gaol cell. All holiday memories she would rather forget.

Laura worked six months in Canada and then had a six-week holiday in The United States.

The only problem was, Laura’s plane touched down in Hawaii on the way, which started her six-month visa.

A six month visa for travelers means exactly that, from the moment you step on that nation’s tarmac. Laura’s time was up yet she continued traveling, oblivious to the dram ahead.

Despite the fact Laura never left the airport, she found out the horrifying truth of her situation when on a bus travelling through Texas last month.

At a driver changeover, an immigration official boarded the bus for a random inspection – a common occurrence in Northern America.

When he looked at her visa he found she was 20 days past her limit.

Laura was taken directly to a holding cell at an immigration centre – with all the amenities of our own famed asylum seeker detention centres – replete with concrete floor, concrete bench and an open toilet.

Her only company was a Mexican man thrown into the cell with her as she waited.

Laura had traveled so close to the Mexican border it was assumed she spoke Spanish.

After a night in a gaol cell, spent with 20 Mexican women, Laura was moved to another immigration centre for nine days, and then to a third.

Bewildered, sacred and way out of her depth, Laura was yet to face more humiliation.

She was forced to to wear stained underwear, eating spaghetti with her hands and sleeping on a concrete floor.

When she finally had a chance to call the Australian Embassy in Washington, Laura was able to speak to her mother in Adelaide, who flew straight over.

Just a week ago she saw her mother, but even then, tough US authorities had her feeling like a criminal speaking only to her mother through a perspex window.

Laura was eventually released last Wednesday and is now due to have a court appearance on July 9 before she can leave the US.

This cuts short a more extended trip she had planned to England and Europe, but now Laura is happy to lie low at home for a while. She also does not plan to travel on her own again, or to read all the VISA conditions in every foreign nation.

[Montague S]

stupid system, it really is....how the hell can the US justify a commencement date on your travel permit when your not leaving the plane or entering the US but continuing on to Canada?

[Rhys Xanthis]

thats absolutely disgraceful.

i hope the australian government gets involved heavily in this BS.

How long was it til she could contact the embassy in washington for crying out loud? that i would like to know very much.

disgraceful.

[Philip Argy]

Imagine the furore if we treated an American citizen like that! Poor Laura has been treated worse than Cornelia Rau.

[Andrew M]

While her treatment was disgusting, remember that she failed to read all the rules of the VISA.

She broke the rules!

However, as I said she did not deserve to be treated like that, she was an Australian tourist.

At least in the article she has said she will in future "read all the VISA conditions in every foreign nation."

[Adrian B]

I guess it pays to read the fiine print, provided that it is clear in interpretation, which from the above comments it may not be. My understanding was that if you did not disembark from the aircraft, you were still considered in the territory of the country where the aircraft is registered. Obviously this incident proves otherwise. Logic suggests that the visa period should start from stamped entry date???

[Grant Smith]

Echoooooo echoooooo echooooooo

[David E]

Three years ago I visited the US ,intending to stay for 90 days (as per the Visa Waiver Program). At about day 88 ,I decided to extend my stay for various reasons. I travelled into Canada ,stayed in Thunder Bay Ontario for 3 days and drove back into the US (Nth Minnesota).I expected to be turned around (having an expired visa), at the checkpoint the immigration officer asked the usual questions ,I was honest and told him what I was doing, he looked at my passport, counted (god knows what) on his fingers, handed my passport back and wished me a great stay in the United States.! Three months later at the QF check in desk in LAX ,not a word was said about my overstay and the same at the boarding gate . I haven't been back since - planning a trip Sept 09 though. I guess I was lucky !

[adam c]

You might want to check your circumstances with the US Consulate in Sydney well before you go. Given you over-stayed last time, you might not be eligible for the visa waiver program, and could wind in a world of trouble when you get to the USA...

[David E]

Certainly Adam, I don't want to fork out $'s for airfares/ accommodation etc only to be returned on the next flight ! Before crossing back into Canada, I did contact US Immigration in Milwaukee and their comment to me was "you didn't hear this officially,but ,if you went to Canada and crossed back into the United States your visa is extended for another 3 months". Again, I explained to them how I had arrived in the US on the Visa Waiver program with an Australian passport, it was almost as like they simply didn't understand or care ! Believe me, I will be very careful next visit.