Shouldnt have overstayed her visa. They are issued for a reason. She broke the law in this country... was detained until she could be deported. Suck it up. Stop being a whiney b***h. Which she must be seeing as how she gloated about riding first class to go shopping....

These seem to indicate that Iceland has a penalty of up to 6 months in prison even for negligently staying past your visa

Icelandic Laws:


AND

(see section 57)



Also here are their citizenship requirements:

Is this the first time she tried to visit the US since 1995? If so, I would have checked to make sure everything was kosher before I left, if I were her.

So she'd visited since 1995 and had no trouble? Why'd they react harshly this time?

Interesting... Especially that if you outstay your welcome they force you to stay even longer. Wheel clamps have always struck me as being a bit like that - your car is causing some sort of problem here so we'll stop you from moving it elsewhere.

But, and it's a fairly big but, this took place in the US, not Iceland.

I'm going to issue my standard *NOT A LAWYER* disclaimer, so if I'm wrong here, I'm wrong.

3 & 10 Year Bar to Admission

In brief, staying beyond the date specified on an I-94 after April 1st 1997 for more than 180 days will be refused entry to the US for 3 years and for 10 years if the stay is more than one year.

So someone staying 21 days 12 years ago shouldn't have been deported, and just from a common sense point of view shouldn't really have been clamped in irons for the duration of the process.

I was just pointing out that her b***hing and moaning (and we are only hearing her side of the story) is interesting when if I was in her country, I would be facing a lot worse than she did.

I know, but I got curious, started looking into it, and then got quite absorbed with it - quiet day today :-)

I think the law you pointed to is for immigrant visas. I believe hers was a non-immigrant visa. Hers was for an extended stay but not for the purpose of immigrating to America.

Different laws pertain... need to do some checking

That's what I thought too, but everything I searched pointed me at this law in different representations. The Destination USA site doesn't seem to have it, but then as that's about planning a Visa application they probably hope that people aren't going to use it to plan illegal immigration.

The I-94 form is the key thing here, I think - it's specifically for non-immigrant visitors. That's the one that is referred to in everything about 3 & 10 year bars.

The laws covering someone staying past their visas might be somewhere below, but I can't find it right now.





There is this: which seems to indicate that your first statement is correct. That she wouldn't be allowed re-entry for 3-10 years depending on how long she overstayed.

It doesn't make sense that if you break the law, your only penalty is you can't come back for 'x' amount of time. Doesn't exactly work as a deterrent does it?

I'm not a lawyer either, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night, and legally speaking they could have, "Let her slide due to her hawtness."

I second that motion.

One illegal down, 20 million to go.

Everything aside, there was no reason this poor girl should have been treated this way.

I'm a 25 year old American, and I've experienced the same treatment from the border patrol in my own country. I have attended university in Canada since I was 18, completely legally. Once, on visit back home to Texas, I was to take a bus to Buffalo, New York, then take a plane home, as it was cheaper for me as a student. This particular instance, I was pulled off the bus after going through border security. I was told that there was a problem, and I was going to have to go with the guards. Despite my protests, they handcuffed me and led me into an interrogation room in the back, giving me NO INFORMATION whatsoever on why I was being detained. I was terrified..my bus was given the go-ahead to leave, without me on it. Customs officers then interrogated me for an hour, asking irrelevant question after question, such as if I am a big "party goer" and if I like to VERBATIM, "be irresponsible by not returning people's calls". I was confused and scared, and they were unbelievably rude to me. They even went through some pictures I had demanding I tell them who each person in each photograph was, all the while not telling me why I was being detained and denied entry into my own country.

After that hour, they left to go make some phone calls..were gone for another hour. When they returned, the person who seemed to be in charge told me that I needed to "stop acting like a fu%$%n retard" and that he "deals with skanks like {me} all the time." I asked him if he could please clarifiy, and after a brief fight about me not acting stupid, because I "knew why I was there" they finally told me...that someone had reported a Julia Thorne missing. I had no idea who could have done this...and it took another two hours to get ahold of my parents (who were working) so that they could verify that indeed I was not missing. So after 4 hours for NOTHING, I was finally allowed to take another bus, which came 2 hours after I was let go. So that's a total of 6 hours I was delayed. Nothing in comparison to the poor Icelandic girl...anyway, my family and I did file a complaint, and come to find out, the custom's officer who had entered my information had incorrectly mistaken me for another person with the same name who had been reported missing...who was a resident of Seattle, Washington, and who's phisical description was listed CLEARLY on the report: black hair, 5 foot 9, tattoo on right wrist. I am 5 foot 4, have long blonde hair, and no tattoos. The customs officer jumped the gun. About 12 weeks later, I was sent a written apology from the US Customs and Border Patrol. I'm thinking I'll post it on here.

I can honestly understand them doing their jobs. But we are all human. And we are all allowed basic human rights, despite nationality. There was no reason for me to be treated this way. The situation could have been handled better..pulling me to the side and letting me know I fit a missing person's report and they just needed to check it out. I would understood. But these guys...honestly get off on the power trips. Had she done something to warrant that kind of treatment? No.

That's awful, Julia. You are right on all counts. Everyone should be allowed basic human rights.

I would love to see that letter. I am actually suprised they sent one and admitted their mistake.

(((((((((hugs))))))))))) and welcome to Plime!!
xoxoxo

I had the unfortunate experience to travel shortly after 9/11 to Alaska (via Canada). The ticket was paid for by my parents and since they paid.. in cash, one week before the flight, for a person with no permanent address, going out of country/back into country... I was searched.

I was detained at every stop. I was questioned, my luggage was searched and re-searched. I didn't go to prison, but I did have to stay in the 'little white room' as they checked everything over.

I can certainly understand, given my particular odd circumstances of travel, that it looked bad. They erred on the side of caution.

The only reason I note it, is that we don't know what the particular people were thinking here. Was there a credible threat that fit her description? (***Hawt terrorists will be infiltrating on New York shopping trips..**) Could she have been just a 'little' tipsy? What did her SMS message say? Has she been affiliated with groups (PETA?) in the past which Have been a danger? She says she was just there to shop, but that is the story 'after the fact'.

I really don't imagine the US Customs office or DHS to be filled with a group of people who just pick people at random to be mean to them. There ARE reasons for peoples actions and until the other side of the story (which will probably never be heard) is out, I'll reserve judgement.

OK, for all the plime girls that have been unreasonably detained, please send Hoosker pictures of yourselves in the "detained" position...it's strictly for research, I'm just checking to see if we have a pattern here.

For all plime girls that have not been unreasonably detained, please send Hoosker pictures of yourselves in the "detained" position...this is also for research..and wallpapers, personal use, and maybe a website.

This kind of behavior by government officials has been rampant since 9/11, and not just against foreign visitors but innocent citizens as well. We made this bed by voting in the current administration *twice* so we get to lie in it unfortunately. To quote Ben Franklin - "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." We think deploying a massive army shows backbone, but in reality we are collectively spineless if we allow this kind of thing to go on in our nation, which used to bravely champion personal liberty. Truly sad.

I am trying to find some sympathy here, but nothing is bubbling to the surface.

I also had a hard time with the format. The giant paragraphs were muddy and bothersome to navigate.

What do they expect a terrorist suspect to arrive in first class? If you were a suicide bomber, what the f**k would you do? Would you fly directly into this country and announce your intention so blatantly? BS! This nation is suffering from a debilitating case of terrorphobia. Their is no room for virtue where Joe Schmuck is having a power trip over how he was the only person ever to stop an Icelandic first class terrorist from terrorizing New York stores with her money$!

My "detained" story is very lame but was a learning experience for me. I was heading home after attending training in California. I was up all night after graduation and up early to catch the bus to the airport. When we arrive my e-ticket wasn't working. It turns out the ticket was for a month earlier. I hadn't noticed it and it was Spring Break so all flights were booked. I called the travel agent and they rebooked me on another cross country flight arriving at Dulles and not Reagan. When I got my ticket I noticed the BIG highlighted SSSs, and I knew what that was about. I was a "selectee" for inspection. Think about it, one way flight, into DC, booked just an hour before the flight was to leave. Since I worked in an office that investigated Selectees it was probably one of my co-workers that saw my name come across the desk. The process only took about 15 minutes total. I was being friendly (mainly because I was going home after 35 days away) although the screeners were less so. They were doing their job. I thanked them afterwards and they returned the gesture. I guess you get some pretty upset people when they get pulled for screening.

My case was hopefully the norm. It irritates me that my former fellow DHSers are so rude to people. What was that honey/vinegar saying?