A British grandmother was detained by ICE for six weeks while on a road trip holiday in the United States, despite having a valid visa and passport.
Karen Newton, 65, left her home in Hertfordshire, UK, in late July 2025 for a holiday in the United States with her 66-year-old husband Bill.
After exploring California, Nevada, Wyoming and Montana, the couple were supposed to carry on their trip in Canada, but their holiday came to an abrupt end when they were instead held in an ICE detention centre for six weeks.
Ms Newton is now warning tourists planning to visit the US that the situation is “totally out of control” and advises people not to go while President Donald Trump is in office.
The issues started on 26 September 2025 when Canadian officials told the couple they did not have the correct paperwork to bring a car with them over the border.
Speaking to The Guardian, Ms Newton said that once she and her husband tried to turn back to Montana on the American side, US border control officials found that Bill’s US visa had expired.
While her husband had issues with his paperwork, Ms Newton’s tourist visa had not expired, and her British passport was valid. The retired primary school admin assistant said she has no criminal record.
Ms Newton found herself handcuffed, shackled and sleeping on the floor of a locked cell, before being driven 12 hours through the night to aImmigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centre, where the couple would spend the next six weeks.
At first, the couple fully expected they would be able to return home, and they immediately offered to pay for flights back to the UK.
However, Ms Newton claimed that officials “weren’t interested” in this. “There was no reason to hold me,” she told The Guardian. “Bill’s an adult. Why am I held responsible for him?”
She added: “It was scary. You have no way of knowing what’s going to happen. It got darker and darker. And then other agents turned up with all these chains and handcuffs,” she recalled.
The couple were first held at Sweetgrass border patrol station in Montana for three days, sharing a cell without beds, sleeping on mats on the floor under foil blankets.
Ms Newton said she was told that she was “guilty by association”, and that she had broken the terms of her valid B2 tourist visa by helping her husband pack for the trip.
“It just went from crazy to ridiculous. It felt like they just wanted an excuse to detain me,” she said.
In response to this claim, a spokesperson for ICE told The Guardian: “Bonuses for ICE officers are not based on arrest or detention numbers. Pay and bonuses for ICE officers are administered in accordance with office of personnel management policy. ICE officers risk their own safety day in and day out because they took an oath to enforce the nation’s immigration laws, not to make large sums of money.”
The couple’s son contacted the UK Foreign Office for advice, but was told that his parents could not be released while the federal government shutdown was ongoing.
However, Ms Newton said she saw people leaving the detention centre every day. It was also reported that ICE continued to detain and deport tens of thousands during the shutdown.
A UK Foreign Office spokesperson told The Independent: “We provided assistance to a British couple who were detained in the US and were in contact with the local authorities.”
The couple’s holiday nightmare eventually came to an end on 6 November, when Ms Newton and her husband were both released and escorted to Tacoma airport in handcuffs and shackles.
After the frightening ordeal, Ms Newton shared a warning to other tourists considering a holiday in the United States: “Don’t go – not with Trump in charge. It’s totally out of control over there. There’s no accountability. They don’t seem to need a reason for detaining you.”
The Independent has contacted ICE’s media office for comment.
Read more: ICE is trying to buy a $70 million luxury jet with a bedroom and showers to shuttle migrants for deportation
The European destination Americans flocked to despite Trump’s attacks
Chinese tourists travel in record numbers during Lunar break but avoid Japan
When will British tourists be able to visit China visa-free?
Contactless train payments finally extended to popular London airport
Controversial Heathrow expansion plan to include £1.3bn car park
Readers share the reality of post-Brexit travel at EU borders
