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British comic creator R.E. Burke details experience of being detained by ICE for more than 2 weeks
R.E. Burke, a London-based comic artist, has revealed that she was detained by ICE for 19 days
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Like so many 28 year-olds from around the world, UK resident R.E. Burke was in the United States to travel for a little more than a month. However, when she tried to leave the country, she was detained by ICE for being an "illegal alien," and was kept at a detention center in Washington for 19 days. Now, she has shared illustrations of her experiences.
The Guardian reports Burke's larger story within the detainment center, where she "became the dorm's unofficial artist-in-residence" after she got a pen and paper to draw on. Currently, she is working on a comic about her incarceration. She has warned people planning to travel to the US about the dangers of being detained, considering how she was just one of more than 32,800 people detained within the first month and a half of Trump taking office.
Burke told the Guardian, “When I got close to the airport [after being released], I felt really relieved and also overwhelmed, watching people with their suitcases, people going on holiday. It was a bit like whiplash – reality whiplash. Did that just happen?” Once she boarded the plane - after a full-body search from U.S. authorities - she broke down, she said. "I found my seat, threw my bags on it, and went into the toilet and sobbed in the cubicle, with the British Airways classical music surrounding me."
Burke's story highlights the impact that the Trump administration's immigration policy has on not only tourists, but also professionals within the entertainment world. Let's also remember that events like New York Comic Con and San Diego Comic-Con all take place in the United States. In previous years, dozens of creators from around the world have been Special Guests at various comic cons around the country, not to mention the thousands of fans that come from outside the US to attend those conventions. Burke's experiences certainly give anyone hoping to visit the US some pause over whether or not it would actually be worth the possibility of being detained indefinitely.
Now that she's safely back in the United Kingdom, her message is stark and simple: she doesn't believe anyone should travel to the United States currently. "First, because of the danger of what could happen to you,' she said. "And, secondly, do you really want to give your money to this country right now?”
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