Runaround at US-Canada border led to technically violating visa requirement Oz man overstays visa by 1 hr, arrested

Buffalo, May 2: In an unusual development, an Australian man was handcuffed and locked up in a US detention centre after apparently breaching his visa conditions by just over one hour.

According to www.theguardian.com, Sydney man Baxter Reid, 26, was in the US on a five-year visa and had travelled to Canada as part of a requirement to exit and reenter America every six months to keep the visa valid.

His girlfriend, Heather Kansco, has attributed the arrest to delay in receiving clearance to cross into Canada.

Kansco said Reid was arrested by US Border Patrol officers on April 23 after delays receiving clearance to cross into Canada meant he breached his visa conditions by just over an hour.

According to Kansco, the report further said, the couple were given “the runaround” for more than four hours at the USCanada border. By the time Canadian authorities referred them back to US Border Patrol, Reid had “technically violated his visa requirements”.

“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, the report added.

“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.”

As per the report, 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.

Kansco said he was faced with the choice of returning to Australia (without a criminal record) or getting married so that he could remain in the US legally – “both of which we are not willing to comply with”, she wrote. — Agencies