UK changes travel advice for anyone going to the US with a new warning

Britain has updated its travel advice for the US, warning visitors they could face ‘arrest or detention’.

The US ‘enforces entry rules strictly’ and those who do not abide by them could be detained, the Foreign Office says.

‘You should comply with all entry, visa and other conditions of entry,’ the department’s new advice reads.

‘The authorities in the US set and enforce entry rules strictly. You may be liable to arrest or detention if you break the rules.’

Earlier guidance that was in place in early February simply read: ‘The authorities in the US set and enforce entry rules.’

While the Foreign Office did not comment on why the change was made, it comes after a British backpacker was held in a US immigration detention centre for nearly three weeks, before being deported.

Rebecca Burke, 28, was handcuffed and detained on a visa violation at the border with Canada after she attempted to make the crossing into the US on February 26.

Her parents spoke of her ‘horrendous’ ordeal, claiming her ‘life-changing’ trip turned into a ‘nightmare’, as they fought to secure her release from the centre in Tacoma, Washington.

Ms Burke had spent two months travelling across the US, including visits to New York and Seattle, after flying across the Atlantic in January.

The graphic artist, from Monmouthshire, Wales, had been carrying out household chores for families in the US in exchange for hosting and planned to do the same thing in Vancouver, western Canada.

Canadian authorities told her to go back to the US and fill in new paperwork before returning.

However, when she tried to re-enter the US, American border force officials are thought to have found that the exchange of household chores for shelter amounted to work and not tourism, in breach of her visa.

Ms Burke said she was held at a facility that was ‘cold’ and ‘close to capacity’, where she had to wear an orange jumpsuit and slept in a dormitory of more than 100 people.

After 19 days in detention, she was led onto a plane with chains ‘like Hannibal Lecter’ and returned to the UK on Thursday.

Ms Burke’s father, Paul, expressed his concern and urged travellers to be extra vigilant.

‘You can do everything right and still be detained,’ he says.

‘I think this experience will change all of us.

He adds: ‘This will never go away, and what we want to do is to warn other young people, and anyone planning to travel to the US, to be extra careful and to check and double-check their visa requirements.’

Travel advice has also been issued to holidaymakers flying to or from Italy next week, warning them to expect disruption as strike action is set to delay air travel. 

Passengers are facing simultaneous strikes, with EasyJet pilots and Italian baggage handlers preparing to walk out on the same day.

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