Posted at 8:01 am on October 16, 2019.
When I first heard the story of the Connors family and their involvement with CBP on CNN, I honestly didn’t pay that much attention to it. The British family had allegedly accidentally veered over the Canadian border into the United States and been apprehended. They were turned over to ICE and put in detention, including their three year old child. Some outlets were wringing their hands as usual about the “cruelty of immigration officials” in dealing with this poor family, but it sounded like something that would be sorted out presently.
But now, as more details emerge, things are looking increasingly strange. We’re still not sure what the entire story is, but the Connors are clearly more than they first appeared. For starters, they didn’t “accidentally take a wrong turn.” They were caught on video intentionally driving across a grassy strip between two roads, one on the Canadian side and one in the U.S. And things only got stranger from there. (WaPo)The family’s attorney, Bridget Cambria, said her clients were driving near the U.S. border south of Vancouver on Oct. 2 when they swerved to avoid an animal and veered into the United States inadvertently. The family members said they were stopped by a U.S. agent, were denied a request to return to Canada, and instead were sent to a family detention center in Pennsylvania, where they are being held pending deportation.
The family’s attorney, Bridget Cambria, said her clients were driving near the U.S. border south of Vancouver on Oct. 2 when they swerved to avoid an animal and veered into the United States inadvertently. The family members said they were stopped by a U.S. agent, were denied a request to return to Canada, and instead were sent to a family detention center in Pennsylvania, where they are being held pending deportation.
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 Blaine, 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 at staffed border stations throughout the region.
Cambria could not immediately be reached Tuesday for comment.
The idea that somebody “swerved to avoid an animal” and wound up in the wrong country was a bit of a stretch to begin with. But as I mentioned above, the story quickly grew even more complicated.
It turns out that the Connors had applied for a travel visa to come to the United States last year but they were denied. The reason for the denial wasn’t provided, but there must have been some disqualifying factor. Generally, applications to visit from Great Britain are approved almost automatically because of our close relationship with them.
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