A British grandmother's dream holiday to the United States ended in shackles, detention and deportation; and her warning to fellow travellers is now reverberating far beyond immigration courts.
Karen Newton, 65, travelled to North America expecting a routinetourist visit. Instead, she spent six weeks inside a United States immigration detention facility despite holding a valid visa, a case that has intensified scrutiny of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) practices and raised fresh concerns about risks facing international visitors.
Her experience, documented through interviews and official immigration procedures, highlights how administrative decisions at the border can rapidly escalate into prolonged detention.
Newton and her husband Bill were stopped in September 2025 while attempting to cross from the United States into Canada. According to her account given in anextended interviewwith The Guardian, US border authorities refused entry into Canada due to documentation issues connected to the couple's vehicle and her husband's expired visa. When Canadian officials returned them to US custody, ICE officers detained both individuals.
British grandmother detained by ICE for six weeks despite having a valid visa tells fellow tourists: Don't go to America, don't go to the World Cuphttps://t.co/HW8WWs9FA1
Although Newton's tourist visa remained valid and she had no criminal history, officers accused her of violating visa conditions by assisting her husband's travel arrangements. She was transported in restraints, wrists, waist and ankles shackled, before being transferred to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington.
Under US immigration law, border agents possess wide discretionary authority to detain non-citizens pending removal proceedings. Unlike criminal detention, immigration custody operates under civil administrative rules, meaning detainees may be held without traditional criminal charges while their status is reviewed.
Newton later said she believed the situation would be resolved within days. Instead, weeks passed without clarity regarding release or deportation.
During her six-week detention, Newton described conditions consistent with those reported in congressional inquiries and oversight investigations into immigration facilities. She said uncertainty proved as distressing as confinement itself, with detainees frequently told their cases would be resolved 'soon' without firm timelines.
Shereportedsleeping on a thin mattress on the floor after being unable to access an upper bunk and avoiding communal toilets because of limited privacy.
Source: International Business Times UK
