British family decries treatment by US after border crossing

Seven members of an extended British family who me an unauthorized crossing into United States from Cana are being held in federal custody at a Pennsylvania detention center nearly two weeks after ir arrest, ir lawyer said Tuesday, as U.S. border officials defended ir handling of case by disclosing that two of ults h previously been denied entry to country.

"Treated like criminals"

family said y blundered into Washington state while trying to avoid an animal in ro on Canian side and have since been “treated like criminals” by ir U.S. jailers, forced to bide ir time in a series of cold and unsanitary immigration facilities as y await deportation to England. detainees include an infant and 2-year-old twins.

ir attorney, Bridget Cambria, lodged a formal complaint about family’s treatment with U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general and civil rights office. She described situation as a “very bizarre” case of federal overreach.

“What is borsome for me as an attorney, and I guarantee for m, was lack of common sense at almost every st of ir apprehension and detention,” Cambria said.

U.S. officials assert family of Eileen and David Conrs crossed border on purpose, ting ir vehicle was observed “slowly and deliberately” driving through a ditch to cross into U.S. territory in Blaine, Washington, on Oct. 2. Four ults and three children were inside.

“During processing, record checks revealed two of ults were previously denied travel authorization to come to United States,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Tuesday in a statement to Associated Press.Officials did t say which ults h been denied entry into U.S., or why.

ncy said that border nts tried returning family to Cana, but Cana refused to have m back. After making two attempts to contact British consular officials, border patrol said it turned family over to U.S. immigration officials for removal proceedings.

Eileen Conrs, 24, who is being held in Pennsylvania along with her husband David, ir 3-month-old son, and or family members, said U.S. officials have mistreated m.

“We will be traumatized for rest of our lives by what United States government has done to us,” she wrote in an affidavit released by immigrants’ rights groups in Pennsylvania.

Conrs’ family, a couple related to m, and ir young children were driving along U.S.-Cana border while vacationing in Vancouver area when Eileen Conrs said y detoured briefly onto an unmarked ro to avoid an animal — and, in process, unkwingly crossed into United States.

A U.S. Border Patrol nt quickly pulled m over, declared y h “crossed an international border” and took m into custody, Conrs said. She said family asked to turn around and go back, but officer refused. “This is how scariest experience of our entire lives started,” Conrs wrote.

Separated from her husband, Conrs described being forced to sleep with her infant on “disgusting floor” of a cold cell first night of her detention. From re, she was taken to a Red Roof Inn in Seattle and eventually flown across country to Pennsylvania.

“We have been treated unfairly from day one"

At Berks Family Residential Center — one of three family detention centers in U.S. that hold children and parents who are seeking asylum or who entered country illegally — Conrs described a frigid facility whose staff claimed y couldn’t turn on heat until end of vember.

Bathrooms are “dirty and broken,” she wrote, and a staff member shines a light in ir room every 15 minutes throughout night. She said her baby developed a swollen, teary eye and rough, blotchy skin in custody. “We have been treated unfairly from day one,” Conrs wrote. “It is undoubtedly worst experience we have ever lived through.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Berks center “has an outstanding track record” and “is regularly awarded exceptional ratings concerning health, safety, and treatment of its residents.” Cambria, immigration lawyer, said family should be on a plane to England within days.