Home...family locked up for driving into US ‘by mistake’
By A BRITISH family locked up in the US after “accidentally” crossing the border from Canada illegally have been flown back to the UK.
David Connors, 30, his wife Eileen, 24, and their threemonth-old son along with relatives Michael Connors, his wife Grace and their two-year-old twin daughters, had been held in custody since October 2.
The Connors family claimed they did not realise they had crossed the US border south of Vancouver when they swerved into a side road to avoid hitting an animal while on holiday.
In a previously released statement, Eileen Connors said they tried to explain their “mistake” but in vain.
Mrs Connors, from London, said: “We were detained anyway and treated in a way no human deserves to be treated.We have been treated like criminals here, stripped of our rights and lied to.”
US authorities accused them of deliberately trying to enter the US from Canada illegally and later kept them in a special family immigration holding facility in Pennsylvania, 2,000 miles away.
Mrs Connors complained at the time of poor conditions in the detention centre, including cold and inadequate facilities to feed her baby.
She said matters improved only when the British Embassy became involved in trying to resolve their case.
US Immigration yesterday confirmed all seven family members were “successfully repatriated back to the United Kingdom” on Wednesday. But in a statement US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials said its evidence contradicted that of the Connors family.
Ditch
A spokesman said: “A vehicle was observed via remote video surveillance system turning west in British Columbia, Canada, at approximately 9pm, October 2.
“The vehicle then turned south and entered the US illegally, by slowly and deliberately driving through a ditch on to Boundary Road in Blaine, Washington. The vehicle travelled west on Boundary Road continuing on the United States side, and was pulled over by a Border Patrol agent a short time later.”
The statement said the family members were arrested minutes later.
It added that attempts were made to return the family to Canada but Canada refused to allow them back. Two attempts to contact the United Kingdom consulate were unsuccessful.
The CBP added that two adult members of the family had previously been denied travel authorisation to enter the United States.