A British couple say they have been detained in the US after accidentally crossing the border from Canada.

David and Elaine Connors say they are being held in Pennsylvania with their three-month-old baby - which has left them "traumatised".

They say were driving with relatives on 3 October when, to avoid an animal, they veered into an unmarked lane.

A police officer then pulled them over, told them they were in the US state of Washington and arrested them.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50050467

If they're telling the truth about how they came to be in the US then arresting them, flying them to Pennsylvania and placing them in immigration detention sounds like overkill to me. I can see how this would be traumatic. They lose me a bit in the final paragraph though, stating that the experience has 'even damaged our relationship'. That sounds more like lawyer-speak aimed at a law suit to me, honestly, would something like this really damage your relationship? It's not as though they've been apart for months or years.

You mob in the US (and your Canadian cousins) will have a better idea if their reason for entering the US holds water. If it does, then I do feel very sorry for them.

Yes its very easy to accidentally cross the border in places especially if your not aware the border is there, there are some markings every so often but they can be easy to miss.

Here one of my photos from Pt. Roberts, I am on the US side, on the other side of that concrete thing is Canada, as you can see easy to accidentally end up in another country.



Here is a view from google, that marker thing is the border, the road is Canada, go across that marker and your in the US illegally.

https://www.google.com/maps/@49.0022...7i13312!8i6656

The bed & breakfast on this link is in the US, the road is in Canada, would be illegal to cross the border here either direction.
https://www.google.com/maps/@49.0021...7i13312!8i6656

The houses are in the US, the road is Canada
https://www.google.com/maps/@49.0021...7i13312!8i6656

If only the article had the location where they crossed or were pulled over.

Other side of the yellow concrete things is the US, this one does have a little warning sign.

https://www.google.com/maps/@49.0021...7i13312!8i6656

There also places like this where part of an old building is in the US and part is in Canada.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haskel...nd_Opera_House


Just a few examples as I am bored.

Not the first time, last year a jogger visiting Canada from France ended up crossing into the US while jogging and was detained a couple weeks. The US is very strict if you cross at a non-official crossing.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...eeks-1.4717060

Thanks heaps JS, I found all that really interesting. Looks like it is easy to stray into the US from Canada, and vice versa!

It can be especially on foot. Along the border in Metro Vancouver/Fraser Valley I can't even think of a spot one would end up in the US while driving without going through a crossing or over a ditch, this story needs to add more detail like where they were pulled over. Hard to say with the limited info how they ended up doing this, or if there is more to the story.

I find it surprising that they were taken to Pennsylvania. Not surprised that crossed "accidentally" ....... if that last word is true!

Did they have luggage or masses of belongings with them? Did they have their passports?

That French girl went for a run on the beach at Boundary Bay, and missed seeing the boundary marker in the vegetation just above the beach ............... but she wasn't sent out of Washington State!

Seems there are only 3 family detention facilities, the one in PA and 2 in Texas which explains why they were sent to PA.

"They were taken on 5 October to Berks Family Residential Center (BFRC), one of three immigration detention centres in the US that can accommodate families."

I'm watching a travel program by Simon Reeves who is traveling from Alaska through Canada and the USA down, eventually, into South America. On the 2nd episode, while in Canada. he parks his car on the US/Canadian border to talk to a person who is in his garden on the US side. I hadn't quite realized just how unmarked and easy it is to cross the border in some places. At the point he was at it would have been obvious that he shouldn't drive his car off the road but I could see how a car could swerve to avoid a crash, or skid in icy weather and cross the border unintentionally.

It seems bizarre that the police officer didn't just warn them and send them back over the border, but if his orders are to arrest anyone in the USA illegally then he was just doing his job.

Crossing by mistake can absolutely happen, just by getting into the wrong traffic lane by mistake and then having no way to escape or turn around. I've done it myself, in the Niagara area. As it happens I had all my documentation so it was a non-issue, but it illustrates how easy it is to do and US border guards tend not to give the benefit of the doubt.

I thought the same - why not just give them 'a little talking to', tell them to turn around and send them on their way? But yes, I guess by the letter of the law he was doing the right thing. Doesn't bode well for their law suit in that case.

I suppose it's a lesson for anyone travelling in the area. Must admit that the thought of being arrested and put in immigration detention is terrifying to me.

Something doesn’t quite add up. How long did they continue to drive down this unmarked road? Why not just stop and carry on the way you had been going? Unless the copper was sat waiting for them on that particular bend it seems unlikely that they pulled over the second they crossed the border.

Being not very clever doesn't mean you have nefarious intent.

Exactly the same discussion and conclusion my wife and I had this morning. If they had simply swerved onto the small unmarked road to avoid hitting an animal as they said, the natural thing to do would be to either immediately do a 3 point turn or simply reverse back onto the main road.

Someone on Vancouver reddit found an area along the border where it would in theory be possible to swerve and end up in the US, the main road is in Canada the little gravel drive is in the US.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@49.00227...7i13312!8i6656