A British couple and their infant son have been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after they mistakenly crossed into the country from southern Canada.
Through a sworn statement provided by family attorney Bridget Cambria, David Connors, 30, and his wife Eileen, 24 claim they were detained by ICE officials after accidentally crossing the U.S. border in Washington state. The couple, whose infant son is with them in detainment, says they veered down a small road after swerving to avoid hitting an animal and inadvertently ended up in the United States. They were traveling with another couple at the time, who were also apprehended with two young children.
The couple says that police arrested them without reading them their rights and have moved them to several immigrant holding centers since they were taken into custody at the beginning of October. “We will be traumatised for the rest of our lives by what the United States government has done to us,” Eileen Connors said in the statement.
ICE has confirmed that the family is being held together at the Berks Family Residential Center in Leesport, Pennsylvania, which is described by officials as “a safe and humane environment for families as they go through the immigration process.” They were first held at separate locations in Washington State before being flown across the country to stay at the family center.
The Connors have claimed that conditions during their detainment have been harsh and assert that ICE officials had confiscated formula and powder needed for their baby when they were first apprehended. They also said that the facility was too cold and were told by officials that the heat would not be turned on until the following month. “When I ask how I am supposed to keep my baby warm in this horrible cold, all they tell me is to put a hat on him,” Mrs. Connors said. “My baby can’t wear a hat all the time, he feels uncomfortable with hats and mittens and starts to cry.”
“We have been treated like criminals here, stripped of our rights, and lied to,” Eileen Connors said. “It is not right. We have been treated unfairly from day one. It is undoubtedly the worst experience we have ever lived through. We have been traumatised and it has even damaged our relationship. No one should have to suffer this kind of treatment.”
Officials from ICE have denied allegations that the conditions of the facility are substandard. An ICE official told the Washington Examiner that “reports of abuse or inhumane conditions at BFRC are unequivocally false.”
The Connors’ attorney hoped that the family could be released and returned to Canada or the United Kingdom by Tuesday.
This story will be updated as more details become available.
