Free Rick Giles

Some blog readers may know Rick Giles who has been blogging for a while.

Well he is currently in detention in the United States, and has been for over a month.   And what is this terrible crime has has been charged with?  He thought his visitor’s visa expired on 27th September (it was actually 20 September) and on the 26th as he was preparing to leave to Canada, he asked a cop for directions to the bus station.  The cop noted he was a couple of days overdue and arrested him.

Read the full story over at Solo. While Rick was of course wrong to have over stayed by a couple of days, it is mind bloggling to think one can end up in jail for weeks on end for this.  It also sounds like he is getting little consular support.

He still has no court date, hasn’t even been formally arrested, is just held in detention.  It sounds like he will be released and deported in a week or so – after six weeks detention.

This should be a wake up call for anyone visiting the US – be very very careful with your visa dates.  The consequences can be dire.

But it also reflects badly on the US – there has to be a better way to handle immigration than this.  I mean six weeks detention for a couple of days overdue – shocking.