A British backpacker who was detained in the US after border guards accused her of having the wrong visa has been released and is on her way back home to the UK.
Rebecca Burke, 28, was on a ‘once in a lifetime’ solo travelling trip across the US and Canada when she was handcuffed while trying to cross the Canadian border on February 26.
She spent nearly three weeks behind bars 5,000 miles from home at a detention centre in Tacoma, Washington, where she is said to have survived on a diet of cold rice, potatoes and beans.
But her family today said that Rebecca had left the detention centre and believed she was now on a flight home.
Rebecca’s father Paul Burke said that he and his wife Andrea had been ‘living in a nightmare we can’t wake up from’.
Graphic artist Rebecca had arrived in the US in January and spent two months travelling across the country, including in New York and Seattle, before attempting to cross the border into Canada.
She had already been staying with families in the US in return for carrying out household chores, and had a similar arrangement in Canada with a family awaiting her arrival in Vancouver.
However border force officials raised concerns her arrangement amounted to work, not tourism, and found her in violation of her visa.
A British backpacker detained by the US after officials accused her of travelling with the wrong visa has been released
Rebecca Burke and her parents Andrea and Paul. Her parents have been fighting tirelessly to bring her back to the UK
Rebecca was immediately placed in handcuffs and taken to a Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing centre in Tacoma, where she was seen wearing orange prison uniform and sleeping in a dormitory with more than 100 people.
Rebecca’s parents had been tirelessly pleading for their daughter’s release.
Appearing on Good Morning Britain last week, Paul said: ‘We really just want to get her home, this is a paperwork mix-up and we can’t believe the conditions she’s being held in. It’s a proper prison environment.
‘Initially we were very concerned that she was doing a solo trip as a young woman, but when she told us it was to the USA and Canada we thought it was probably the safest two countries for a British person to do solo travelling.
‘Becky has told us that she was told the detention centre is not a jail but the conditions are the exact definition of a jail – she had all of her possessions confiscated, she’s had to swap her own clothes for a prison jumpsuit.
‘She’s a vegan so she’s being given rice, potatoes and mushy beans everyday for the last 14 days.
‘We spoke to her yesterday and she said she’s had to see the medic because she’s got digestive problems. I think most people would have digestive problems after two weeks on cold rice and potatoes.’
‘Becky’s such a sweet, beautiful, unassuming girl who wouldn’t say boo to a goose,’ her father said.
Graphic artist Rebecca had arrived in the US in January and spent two months travelling across the country
Rebecca was held at a detention centre in Tacoma, Washington, where she was seen wearing an orange uniform
‘She flew from Britain into New York in January – before the Trump administration took over – for the holiday of a lifetime.
‘She travelled over to the west coast, a stayed for a fortnight with a family on Portland, Oregon, then in some hostels, a staying on people’s sofas, then with another family in Seattle, up by the Canadian border.
‘Near the end of February she was crossing over into Canada by land, with a family in Vancouver waiting at the bus station for her to arrive. She was looking forward to visiting a national park.
‘But when she got to Canadian side, they suddenly said this arrangement of staying with a family in return for chores sounded like work, her tourist visa wasn’t enough, and she should do the paperwork again.
Prior to her detention, Rebecca had posted a series of photographs and sketches from her travels before being thrown behind bars. In one sketch, she wrote: ‘One part of travelling I love is seeing glimpses of other people’s lives.’
Rebecca’s detention came as US President Donald Trump continues to wage his war on illegal immigrants.
