US border officers lock up Australian man after he overstayed visa by one hour [View all]
US border officers lock up Australian man after he ‘overstayed visa by one hour’
Baxter Reid, who was in the US on a five-year visa, arrested at Canadian border after delays receiving clearance meant he breached his visa conditions
Elle Hunt Tuesday 2 May 2017 01.21 EDT
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.
“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.
“This is where all the real problems began: they threw Baxter in cuffs and escorted him to prison ... This is going to make a criminal out of an innocent man.”
Reid had not been charged but was reportedly being held at the Buffalo federal detention centre. Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was providing consular assistance to an Australian man detained in the US, but could not release any more details owing to privacy obligations.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/may/02/us-border-officers-lock-up-australian-man-after-overstaying-visa-by-one-hour
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