A 65-year-old British grandmother, Karen Newton, was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for six weeks despite holding a valid tourist visa. The incident occurred after she and her husband were turned back from the Canadian border due to incorrect paperwork for their car.
Newton, a retired primary school admin assistant with no criminal record, was handcuffed, shackled, and held in a detention centre in Montana. She was separated from her husband, whose visa had expired, and spent weeks sleeping on a cell floor before being transferred to the Northwest ICE Processing Center.
During her detention, Newton claims guards told her that ICE agents receive bonuses for each person they detain. This aligns with reports that the Trump administration has increased ICE funding to $85 billion annually and set daily arrest quotas of 1,200–1,500.
Newton’s case is part of a pattern of international tourists being detained by ICE, including German tourists Jessica Brösche, Lucas Sielaff, and Fabian Schmidt, British backpacker Rebecca Burke, Canadian actor Jasmine Mooney, and New Zealander Sarah Shaw with her son. All were held despite having valid visas or legal status.
Newton advises others: 'Don’t go to the US – not with Trump in charge. If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone.' She was released after six weeks but says the ordeal has left her traumatised.
