4 ms·

Are there any instances of the US sending a tourist to jail in another country?

philipallstar 3mo ago
No, I don't think so. There's a set of people who consume media that deliberately and consistently conflates "immigrant" and "illegal immigrant", and they just can't disambiguate what happens to one from what happens to the other.
- realo 3mo ago
  But what to do with an "illegal immigrant" who has been living in the country for 30 years (and PAID TAXES!) , had 4 kids and a perfectly normal , productive life? Do you separate them from their kids, and send the bunch to a prison? That is insane. Because from what we hear about ICE, that is exactly what is happening... when they don't just kill them outright.
  - mindslight 3mo ago
    It might be enlightening for some to look at what happens to someone who builds a house on land they don't own, and then lives there for 30 years. It's a pretty well established body of law.
    - mdgld 3mo ago
      Except your analogy is asinine, and in this case it would be more like paying rent for 30 years in an apartment but not being on the lease so they unceremoniously kick you out.
      - mindslight 3mo ago
        You can't just make an unsubstantiated claim of "asinine". I'd say the comparison is quite apt. Failure to enforce a condition can amount to tacit agreement to it - the same thing can apply in contracts. Also a tenant in your situation would most certainly have rights to not be "unceremoniously kicked out" - both a time period before they'd even be legally expected to leave, and also legal protections against being forcibly removed even if they didn't leave at that time.
- inigyou 3mo ago
  Last year ICE was deporting legal tourists.
cucumber3732842 3mo ago
Over the years a bunch of biathlon competitors have had various flavors of a bad time in NYC despite complying with the federal level stuff they're supposed to and that the state NY is supposed to honor. IDK if any of them have gone to actual jail for very long though.
sourweasel 3mo ago
Not exactly. There have been cases where tourists were denied entry and faced extended detention but they were held in U.S. facilities before being returned to their home countries. There have been cases of incoming immigrants sent to foreign prisons without charges or trial. In March 2025 the U.S. administration flew 238 Venezuelan migrants from Texas directly to the "Terrorism Confinement Center" in El Salvador. The group included asylum seekers with active court cases, individuals who had entered the U.S. legally, and recent border crossers. The administration labeled them members of the "Tren de Aragua" gang to justify the move.
morkalork 3mo ago
Ages ago there was a Russian citizen they wanted who was flying to the Caribbean. His flight had a surprise landing in Florida with the FBI waiting on the tarmac.
- hdgvhicv 3mo ago
  Belarus the same https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryanair_Flight_4978 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryanair_Flight_4978 Flying over a country does not make you immune to that country’s laws.
  - iamnothere 3mo ago
    You know, this wasn’t always the state of things. This is a choice we’ve made. Frankly, temporary transit through a nation’s airspace (while onboard a commercial jet that you don’t control) shouldn’t subject you to their legal jurisdiction. Shall we revoke the concept of diplomatic immunity next? Close the embassies? We seem to be unlearning all the hard lessons of the past. It’s not going to end well.
- dmoy 3mo ago
  Notably, he was kept in the US, not sent to prison in another country?
inigyou 3mo ago
Weren't some of the German tourists last year sent to an ICE camp in Mexico?
- jolmg 3mo ago
  Why would there be an ICE camp in Mexico? Maybe you read "New Mexico", the US state.
  - inigyou 3mo ago
    To deport legal tourists to?
    - jolmg 3mo ago
      Outside of embassies, the US wouldn't have a place to set up government facilities in someone else's country. Deportees are handed to the receiving country's authorities at most. ICE "camps" (detention facilities) are to process people prior to deporting. Once in another country, they're already deported.
      - inigyou 3mo ago
        So if someone is sent to Guantanamo, they're actually sent to Cuba and Cuba chooses to put them in Guantanamo?
        jolmg 3mo ago
        Such are anomalies. Do you know of a specific US-owned camp in Mexico?
        inigyou 3mo ago
        No, why would I? You didn't need to know the staff rota at Dachau to know the government was doing bad things, way back then.

No, I don't think so. There's a set of people who consume media that deliberately and consistently conflates "immigrant" and "illegal immigrant", and they just can't disambiguate what happens to one from what happens to the other.

realo 3mo ago
But what to do with an "illegal immigrant" who has been living in the country for 30 years (and PAID TAXES!) , had 4 kids and a perfectly normal , productive life? Do you separate them from their kids, and send the bunch to a prison? That is insane. Because from what we hear about ICE, that is exactly what is happening... when they don't just kill them outright.
- mindslight 3mo ago
  It might be enlightening for some to look at what happens to someone who builds a house on land they don't own, and then lives there for 30 years. It's a pretty well established body of law.
  - mdgld 3mo ago
    Except your analogy is asinine, and in this case it would be more like paying rent for 30 years in an apartment but not being on the lease so they unceremoniously kick you out.
    - mindslight 3mo ago
      You can't just make an unsubstantiated claim of "asinine". I'd say the comparison is quite apt. Failure to enforce a condition can amount to tacit agreement to it - the same thing can apply in contracts. Also a tenant in your situation would most certainly have rights to not be "unceremoniously kicked out" - both a time period before they'd even be legally expected to leave, and also legal protections against being forcibly removed even if they didn't leave at that time.
inigyou 3mo ago
Last year ICE was deporting legal tourists.

cucumber3732842 3mo ago

Over the years a bunch of biathlon competitors have had various flavors of a bad time in NYC despite complying with the federal level stuff they're supposed to and that the state NY is supposed to honor. IDK if any of them have gone to actual jail for very long though.

sourweasel 3mo ago

Not exactly. There have been cases where tourists were denied entry and faced extended detention but they were held in U.S. facilities before being returned to their home countries. There have been cases of incoming immigrants sent to foreign prisons without charges or trial. In March 2025 the U.S. administration flew 238 Venezuelan migrants from Texas directly to the "Terrorism Confinement Center" in El Salvador. The group included asylum seekers with active court cases, individuals who had entered the U.S. legally, and recent border crossers. The administration labeled them members of the "Tren de Aragua" gang to justify the move.

morkalork 3mo ago

Ages ago there was a Russian citizen they wanted who was flying to the Caribbean. His flight had a surprise landing in Florida with the FBI waiting on the tarmac.

hdgvhicv 3mo ago
Belarus the same https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryanair_Flight_4978 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryanair_Flight_4978 Flying over a country does not make you immune to that country’s laws.
- iamnothere 3mo ago
  You know, this wasn’t always the state of things. This is a choice we’ve made. Frankly, temporary transit through a nation’s airspace (while onboard a commercial jet that you don’t control) shouldn’t subject you to their legal jurisdiction. Shall we revoke the concept of diplomatic immunity next? Close the embassies? We seem to be unlearning all the hard lessons of the past. It’s not going to end well.
dmoy 3mo ago
Notably, he was kept in the US, not sent to prison in another country?

inigyou 3mo ago

Weren't some of the German tourists last year sent to an ICE camp in Mexico?

jolmg 3mo ago
Why would there be an ICE camp in Mexico? Maybe you read "New Mexico", the US state.
- inigyou 3mo ago
  To deport legal tourists to?
  - jolmg 3mo ago
    Outside of embassies, the US wouldn't have a place to set up government facilities in someone else's country. Deportees are handed to the receiving country's authorities at most. ICE "camps" (detention facilities) are to process people prior to deporting. Once in another country, they're already deported.
    - inigyou 3mo ago
      So if someone is sent to Guantanamo, they're actually sent to Cuba and Cuba chooses to put them in Guantanamo?
      - jolmg 3mo ago
        Such are anomalies. Do you know of a specific US-owned camp in Mexico?
        inigyou 3mo ago
        No, why would I? You didn't need to know the staff rota at Dachau to know the government was doing bad things, way back then.