Welsh parents are frantically working to get their 28-year-old daughter released from a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Tacoma after she was detained on Feb. 26 in Blaine.
Becky Burke, a tourist, was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) after being denied entry into Canada. She was then turned over to ICE, which brought her to the detention facility.
“They keep saying in all their booklets that this is not a prison. It’s hard to distinguish from my conception of a prison,” Burke told BBC from inside the facility.
Due to privacy concerns, a CBP spokesperson said they were unable to discuss the specifics of any cases.
“As part of their critical national security mission, CBP officers determine admissibility of foreign nationals using U.S. immigration law,” spokesperson Jason Givens told CDN in an email. “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 person is unable to do so, they are turned over to ICE for repatriation, he added.
An ICE spokesperson confirmed that Becky was being detained at the “Northwest ICE Processing Center related to the violation of the terms and conditions of her admission.”
“All aliens in violation of U.S. immigration law may be subject to arrest, detention and if found removable by final order, removal from the United States regardless of nationality,” the spokesperson said.
It has been 11 days since ICE took Burke into custody. Her father, Paul Burke, wrote in a Facebook post that there was no clear timeline for her release. Paul told the BBC his daughter asked for voluntary departure, but the family was told that has to be approved by a judge, and they do not know “how to make that happen.”
Paul said his daughter’s current conditions were “deeply concerning.”
“She is sharing a cell, surviving on a diet of cold rice, potatoes, and beans (she is vegan), and has limited access to phone calls,” he wrote on Saturday, March 8. “All her possessions have been confiscated, and she feels isolated and desperate to come home.”
Becky told BBC that she is in a dormitory of 110 people.
“They wake us up at 6:30 a.m. 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 said everyone she’s told her story to was “shocked” about the situation.
“What was meant to be a life-changing four-month backpacking trip across North America has turned into a nightmare,” Paul wrote.
Becky started her trip in the U.S. on the East Coast on Jan. 7, according to the BBC. She then flew from New York to Portland, Oregon, where she stayed with a host family. She reportedly helped with household chores in return for accommodation.
She then worked her way north through Seattle with sights set to visit Vancouver, Canada, to stay with another family, BBC reported.
“Unfortunately, due to an incorrect visa, she was denied entry into Canada,” Paul wrote. “When she tried to return to the U.S., she was refused re-entry and classified as an ‘illegal alien.’”
Canada Border Services Agency would neither confirm nor deny that it refused to allow Burke from entering.
Isaac Stone Simonelli is CDN’s enterprise/investigations reporter; reach him at isaacsimonelli@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 127.
