For roughly 100 days, Thomas says he faced harsh detention conditions, despite agreeing to deportation
Thomas, a 35-year-old tech worker and father of three from Ireland, came to West Virginia to visit his girlfriend last fall. It was one of many trips he had taken to the US, and he was authorized to travel under a visa waiver program that allows tourists to stay in the country for 90 days.
He had planned to return to Ireland in December, but was briefly unable to fly due to a health issue, his medical records show. He was only three days overdue to leave the US when an encounter with police landed him in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) custody.
From there, what should have been a minor incident became a nightmarish ordeal: he was detained by Ice in three different facilities, ultimately spending roughly 100 days behind bars with little understanding of why he was being held – or when he’d get out.
See? That’s the problem here.
Really, people, do NOT go to the US.
Do NOT follow the country roads.
I’d be interested to see what Republican policies have done to the US tourism industry. I know it’s taking a hit, but how much I’m not sure. I know I wouldn’t come here by choice.
Completely crushed the industry…95 billion dollars loss projected this year
And that’s with people going on trips they planned a year ago. 2026 will see tourist towns turn into ghost towns.
that’ll teach them nasty foreigners
And in completely unrelated news, why can’t I get cheap fresh produce any more? Where did my favorite taco truck go???
where’s my MacArthur Park ice cream vendor?
I don’t know, but someone left the cake out in the rain.
I don’t even want to travel within the country. Or leave it if I had to come back.
I’m in a red state tourist town and our overall visitation is down over 30%. That said, international visitors only account for about 3% of tourism in this state, so there’s much more involved with that loss than just the international travel.
I know I’m not trying to visit any red states anytime soon. I have some inlaws in red states and they better stay alive and healthy for the next 3.5 years or I will be FaceTimeing into any familial obligations
Inflation caused by corporate greed kills people’s ability to take vacations for some reason.
Gonna be even worse now too with the National Park Service cuts: there are so many foreign tourists at the parks. As there should be too! Our National Parks are amazing!
For now.
Until they have open pit mines and clear cut logging.
People are only still going to the states because they had trips planned before the shit hit the fan. Once those trips are over, tourism to the states will be near zilch
I am a citizen and live in the states, once I finish my planned US vacations this year, I am exclusively going to vacation in other counties.
I don’t want to support the country with any more money than I have to to live and survive