petitefrancaise

A young person I know was detained under the Baker Act in Florida. She is here on a working visa at Disney World. From talking to her mother, it appears that the grounds for doing this are questionable.

Will this have consequences for her future in the USA should she want to return and need to apply for visas or visa waivers?

TIA

Pulaski

The Baker Act is the common mame for the Florida Mental Health Act of 1971.

I would suggest that the girl's mother is not the best person to determine impartially that the grounds for the detainment are "questionable".

petitefrancaise

Yes.

She was examined and released with no further treatment necessary.

Pulaski

So that is probably the end of the matter. .... Has she returned to work?

petitefrancaise

The grounds for using the mental health act are clearly laid out. The young person did not meet them, the police officer lied ( surprise) to all concerned under pressure from disney.
An argument amongst flatmates.

petitefrancaise

with all due respect. I wanted to know if this would impact future visa applications.

Pulaski

So she has been fired by Disney?

petitefrancaise

No.

Pulaski

So that is pretty much the end of the matter, or has she already learned that the American way is to lawyer-up and sue somebody?

petitefrancaise

Is that a definitive answer regarding future visa applications?

She won't have to declare it at all?

Pulaski

Well it sounds like she wasn't "arrested", and doesn't appear to have been "detained" either - she was clearly tricked into being taken for an assessment, and the assessment didn't find anything, so I don't believe that even meets the criteria for being detained.

scrubbedexpat099

What does she had to declare?