A British tourist is currently being wrongfully incarcerated in Tacoma, Washington. She was doing a 4 month backpacking trip up the West Coast, and then attempted to enter Canada to finish up her trip and then was wrongfully denied entry. I don’t know if it was due to “lack of funds” or not having an ETA, but Canada claimed it was due to not having a correct visa, whatever that means. She then tried to reenter the United States and due to an executive order was incarcerated.
This is also not an isolated incident. A German tourist is being indefinitely detained in California after being falsely accused of attempting to work in the United States.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/03/ice-german-tourist-detained-immigration
There is so much to unpack with these incidents, and so much that needs to change.
First of all, the requirement to get ETAs (henceforth known as eVisas) needs to be dropped by Canada, the United States, United Kingdom, and the European Union. They do not improve security and lead to situations like this. The post does not say exactly why Becky Burke was denied entry to Canada, I can only assume this is because she rightfully knew that she did not need an eVisa because she had her eVisa for the United States which works for Canada as well as long as you are crossing the land border. I am sure the meat head stamp monkey at the Canada border did not understand this and denied her entry. This is what these eVisas do. They are confusing to people and border police, they are expensive, they are unnecessary. They should be abolished and visa free travel should resume between democracies.
The second thing is that it is one thing if someone who comes across the border and works illegally. I understand why they will be deported. But you cannot just accuse someone of attempting to work illegally when there is no such evidence of them doing such behavior. You need to give them an opportunity to follow the law instead of baselessly accusing them of crimes which they have not committed, and then incarcerating people for crimes which they never did.
Both of these cases come down to the difference between democracy and authoritarianism.
The time of milquetoast moderates needs to be over. As right wing parties have won across the free world over the last couple years, in the US, Germany, New Zealand, and Italy, it is clear we need to elect progressive liberal candidates who will put solving problems ahead of the feelings of radicals.
We clearly need immigration reform. Here are my proposals.
- The United States, Canada, European Union, and United Kingdom abolish eVisas, reinstating visa-free travel between democracies. If you are a democracy and are not a state sponsor of terrorism, there is no reason why your citizens cannot be given visa-free travel to our regions.
- People incarcerated in immigration prisons need to be given a lawyer and a court date as prescribed by the US constitution.
- Denial at the border for someone who can enter visa-free needs to have a clear reason and there needs to be a way to appeal the decision in all of these countries. This is the difference between democracy and a police state.
- The President does not have the right to unilaterally change immigration law. Those changes need to go through congress.
- Even if the President’s 30 day registration crap was constitutional, (it is not) it was applied ex post facto in Ms. Burke’s case. This is a violation of her rights.
- Farm workers need a pathway to work in the United States legally. George W. Bush destroyed that visa.
- The United States and Canada should open our border as soon as the United States gets our homicide epidemic under control.
Our immigration systems are broken, and the systems in the European Union are now being broken by a radical right-wing fringe which is following in the footsteps of George W. Bush.
The only radical option is to continue the status quo.