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I'm back in the
UK. I just cannot shake off those ICE
officers. Having said that, one was very
understanding. He opened up to me and told me
of his own former relationship to a European
lady. From his own experiences, he could
understand my anguish and empathise with my
cause.
Concerning my own predicament, this may
not amount to a hill of beans, but it was good
to know that someone understood my motives. I
also sympathised with this ICE officer and
felt for his predicament as well. In other
circumstances, we may have become good
friends, but he had to do his duty and ensure
I arrived back in the UK.
His colleague
was OK, not unfriendly, but remained somewhat
intransigent. This was OK, I had no difficulty
with this guy and he was something of a
support worker. His colleague was running the
show.
I was treated
very well on the way home. I got a sandwich
and drink on the first leg of the journey
between SeaTac (Seattle) airport and Atlanta.
And I managed to get a 'Starbuck's' at
Atlanta airport.
We arrived at
Heathrow around 11-30am to midday. The ICE
officers were a little surprised nobody was
their from the UK immigration authorities to
question me about my motives to travel to
Canada. In fact, nobody at Heathrow really
cared about my return. One gentleman did turn
up eventually and gave the 'so what' response
to the ICE officers. These officers were also
a little surprised that they were not
subjected to the same level of intrusion that
US immigration officers impose upon visitors
to their country - such as taking
fingerprints, photographs, etc. It was all
very laid back at Heathrow.
It was now time
to go our own ways, though I helped the ICE
officers find a suitable way to get into
London City centre. We shared an underground
ride to Hyde Park Corner where we parted ways.
They were staying in a hotel in Mayfair (yes,
Mayfair). They were hardly slumming it while
in London. One officer stayed for two days and
the one who befriended me decided to stay for
4 days.
Essentially, they were paid to bring
me back to the UK, but they said they were
responsible for their own expenses if they
decided to stay in London for any time deemed
longer than necessary. In fact, returning
people back to their own country is often used
as an excuse by ICE officers to take holidays
in those countries. As long as they paid their
own expenses, they could take holiday leave
and save money o flight costs, etc.
I don't know
where in Portman Square (Mayfair) they were
staying, but it could not have been cheap.
There again, they were saving a lot of money
on travel costs, so they could afford to spend
some money. Seems like a good job to try and
get.
I'm now in
trouble, financially. There is some money in
my overdraft, but because I have not used my
Visa account since being detained, it has been
frozen. First stop after reaching the city was
to visit the one branch of my building society
I knew from a previous visit. I headed off to
Oxford Street and was able to get some cash
out of my account. Then it was over to
Victoria for a National Express bus to the
Midlands and to stay with my sister for a few
days. |
