# Beware of visa



## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Expired Visa Mixup Lands British Couple in American Jail, Called Illegal Aliens


by AOL Travel StaffSubscribe to AOL Travel Staff's postsPosted Jun 23rd 2011 06:00 AM

STV
A U.S. vacation turned into a nightmare for one Scottish couple who spent five weeks in an American jail due to confusion over their visas. 

Barbara Dixon, 52, and Richard Cross, 75, were on an extended vacation from Newtonmore, Scotland, spent three months in the states visiting family. They planned a side trip to Canada before returning to the U.S.

They believed that their expired 90-day visa waivers would be automatically renewed after crossing into Canada, reports The Scotsman.

But, back at the American border, customs officials forgot to stamp their visas. When this was later discovered by border patrol in Texas, the pair was arrested for being illegal aliens, reports Scottish news service STV.

Despite attempts to assure authorities the whole thing was a misunderstanding, Dixon and Cross were placed in a high security jail in El Paso, Texas, after spending five hours in questioning.

For five weeks the couple says they were not allowed to see each other and were forced to endure unbearable conditions like sleeping on bare mattress in dormitories that housed 60 inmates.

"Using open toilets cemented our loss of dignity," Dixon told The Scotsman. "All 60 of us women were taken to an exercise yard for an hour a day, but it was so cramped you could barely move. It was horrific."

She added that the ordeal took a serious toll on her husband's physical health.

The couple was eventually deported back to the U.K. in April. They plan to file a complaint with the UK Foreign Office.

And, though they have visited the U.S. many times, they have no plans to ever return. Check out STV for a video interview with the couple.

Ray.


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## Glandwr (Jun 12, 2006)

And people think we have jobsworths here! 

Dick


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## spatz1 (May 19, 2011)

Thats a bit "off" .....

Maybe the scotish accents didnt help ...

But there again , they say you can count your true friends on one hand and i ve seen nothing in my years to say bright americans are any different !


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Doesn't suprise me. I got arrested first time in the US within 5 min of touching down at minneoapolis. I was trying to get a light for a long awaited ***. I was arrested by armed Garda and marched off and interigated for half an hour by the head of the anti terrorist squad. They called my company to check me out (despite me telling them it was 1am back home and they called my hotel in arizona to check I had a reservation. They really were unpleasant and this was the 90's!

Special relationship? Only with themselves I fear


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## grandadbaza (Jan 3, 2008)

I thought everyone knew the Americans invented "jobsworths" and if you believe them "everything else"


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## waz (Jan 5, 2008)

I won't go back to the states. The last time we went we had a 83 year old woman with us. We had queued up for 4 hours to clear immigration and when I asked if the old lady could have a seat they refused, said she had to queue like everyone else.

Waz


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Yep, US immigration are specially bred thugs.

My wife was detained because of a banana.
I was detained twice at Algodonez. Once cos I tried to help a friend who had lost his I-94. And once cos I had the visa in my old expired passport across the border in the RV.

I was detained again for making a joke about their balance of payments.
I have stood for over an hour with 300 other people cos their computer was down and not allowed to use my phone to let my taxi know.

Belligerent thugs.

Ray.


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## Nordet (Jan 27, 2008)

Not just with foreigners... I was on a cruise ship full of Americans that had to leave a port just inside Mexico when caught up in a hurricane. We left 700 passengers in town as the ship left and we sailed up to the safety of San Diego. 

The plan was to bus up all of the passengers stranded in Mexico, which worked. The short trip north was pretty rough and a lot of people wanted to get off in San Diego rather than carry on to Los Angeles. 

Despite they were American, the police would not let them off and even threatened them if they tried to disembark. The ship had been allowed to dock in an emergency, but no immigration staff were on duty, so they weren't getting off. Things got very heated with them demanding their rights, but we sailed, with nobody disembarked.


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## spatz1 (May 19, 2011)

Hey Ray.....

Should you be mentioning the banana story !!!!!!


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## duxdeluxe (Sep 2, 2007)

I'm here at the moment (Houston) - and the above are no exaggeration. Last year, the border guard demanded to know why I had visited USA 14 times in the last 3 years. The temptation to come up with a smart alec reply was almost (but not quite) overwhelming, but the prospect of the full marigold glove treatment led me to safer waters


Off to Miami next week and yes, it is all work......


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

spatz1 said:


> Hey Ray.....
> 
> Should you be mentioning the banana story !!!!!!


We were caught and had to eat it there and then.

My sis in law had to eat a whole tray of Kiwi fruits in Aus.

My wife also had a minute sewing set out of a christmas cracker confiscated at Heathrow. The scissors were an inch long.!!

Ray.


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