If only people were even allowed to go back to where they came from...

A British couple say they have been detained in the US after accidentally crossing the border from Canada.

David Connors, 30, and his wife Eileen, 24, say they are being held in Pennsylvania with their three-month-old baby and are "traumatised".

They say were driving with relatives on 3 October when, to avoid an animal, they veered onto a small road.

A police officer then pulled them over, told them they were in the US state of Washington and arrested them.

The couple have detailed the "scariest experience of our entire lives" in a sworn statement that was provided to BBC News by their lawyer.
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They were stopped by a police officer who did not read them their rights, nor allow them to "simply turn around" and go back to Canada, according to the complaint.

At first the young family say they were separated - with David Connors being held in a male-only cell, and Eileen Connors and their infant son in a women's cell.

Later, the husband was taken to a detention centre in Tacoma, Washington, while his wife and their baby son were taken to a budget hotel near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, according to the complaint.

The following morning they say they were driven to the airport, which raised their hopes that they were being flown back to Canada or the UK.

"But that was not the case," Eileen Connors says in the sworn statement. Instead, they were flown to Pennsylvania - on the other side of the country.
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The couple's sworn statement says the cells are "frigid", and staff have refused to turn the heating on until the end of next month.

"When I ask how I am supposed to keep my baby warm in this horrible cold, all they tell me is to put a hat on him," Mrs Connors said in the statement.

"My baby can't wear a hat all the time, he feels uncomfortable with hats and mittens and starts to cry."

Staff, she added, confiscated her son's formula for three days, as well as his teething powder, and would only provide "disgusting" blankets that smelled "like a dead dog".

They say the baby's skin is now rough and blotchy and he appears to have an eye infection.

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What happened to the relatives? How did they get off and the couple did not? This story is incomplete. Who ever said getting arrested was going to be pleasant.

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What happened to the relatives? How did they get off and the couple did not? This story is incomplete. Who ever said getting arrested was going to be pleasant.

Canadians can cross the border without a Visa. UK/EU can't. They likely were deported. It is a crazy mixed up mess.

Some updates (well, counterstatements at least):

U.S. officials say British family illegally crossed border from Canada on purpose

A British family currently held in U.S. immigration custody was arrested for making what U.S. agents believe was a deliberate attempt to enter the United States illegally from Canada, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency said Tuesday.
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CBP officials disputed the family’s version of events and said the Connors were spotted via video surveillance “slowly and deliberately driving through a ditch onto Boundary Road in Lynden, Washington,” between parallel roadways on the U.S. and Canadian sides. The roads are not connected by cross streets, and the only legal way to traverse between the countries is through staffed border stations throughout the region.
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The CBP statement said U.S. agents also determined that two of the family members had applied for travel authorization to visit the United States and were denied. A senior CBP official said the Connors applied for visa waivers last year, and it was not immediately clear why they were rejected.

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Some updates (well, counterstatements at least):

U.S. officials say British family illegally crossed border from Canada on purpose

A British family currently held in U.S. immigration custody was arrested for making what U.S. agents believe was a deliberate attempt to enter the United States illegally from Canada, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency said Tuesday.
...
CBP officials disputed the family’s version of events and said the Connors were spotted via video surveillance “slowly and deliberately driving through a ditch onto Boundary Road in Lynden, Washington,” between parallel roadways on the U.S. and Canadian sides. The roads are not connected by cross streets, and the only legal way to traverse between the countries is through staffed border stations throughout the region.
...
The CBP statement said U.S. agents also determined that two of the family members had applied for travel authorization to visit the United States and were denied. A senior CBP official said the Connors applied for visa waivers last year, and it was not immediately clear why they were rejected.

On the BBC as well, Jailed British tourists entered US 'deliberately'