Seems like there's reasons wherein it was correct to deport the husband
But not the wife, and more importantly why were they held captive for SIX FUCKING WEEKS?!?
How is there ANY possible valid excuse for that? They should've both been on a plane back to their home country the next day.
Also are we sure Canada rejected THEM, or just the car they wanted to drive in, leading them back into the corrupt clutches of CBP as they sought to get the proper paperwork to drive the car in or make other transport arrangements?
Also UK citizens don't need a visa to drive into Canada and can stay for up to 6 months (though I don't think they can work there legally). Seems possible they waited til like the last day the husbands US visa was valid (or maybe overstayed a little bit as they traveled to leave), tried to drive into CA, not expecting a problem getting in cause UK citizens are basically automatically allowed in.
What they might've done is leave the hubby inside CA at a motel while she drove back with her valid US visa to try to get whatever auth she needed to drive the car into CA.