A UK tourist has been locked up in an ICE detention center for more than 10 days over a “visa mix-up”—and her return to the UK may be further delayed due to Donald Trump’s recent purge of immigration judges.
Becky Burke, a Welsh cartoonist, was on her way out of the U.S. when she was detained in Tacoma, Washington in late February. Her father, Paul Burke, said she is being held indefinitely in “horrendous” conditions in an interview with BBC Radio Wales.
He said his daughter was “distraught” and “inconsolable” upon her detainment, and just wants to return home to Wales. But her request for voluntary departure has been met with “radio silence.”
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Burke’s case is the second reported instance since Trump took office of a tourist being detained indefinitely by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A German traveler who attempted to enter the U.S. from Mexico has already spent over a month in ICE custody.
Burke had been on a four-month backpacking trip across the U.S., during which she stayed with host families in exchange for helping out around the house. She was on her way out of the U.S. when Canadian authorities denied her entry, suspecting she might work illegally.
Instead of letting her return to the UK, U.S. Homeland Security took her to an ICE detention center, where she remains caught in an immigration limbo.
“So basically she couldn’t go into Canada, she wasn’t allowed in the U.S.,” Paul Burke told BBC Wales.
Burke’s family hasn’t been able to add money to her inmate account, forcing them to rely on American friends to help get her basic necessities.
She has asked for voluntary departure, but that requires approval by an immigration judge. Trump fired dozens such judges in February and more than 80 have accepted government payout offers to leave. Between each judge handling 500 to 700 cases a year and Trump’s firings, the backlog of cases has been exacerbated.
The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it was supporting Burke and was “in contact with the local authorities”.
