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Cedella Roman was enjoying a run on the beach near White Rock, British Columbia, Canada when it quickly turned into a nightmare. The 19-year-old was running along the beach in late-May when she decided to take a photo of the scenery. It was then that she saw U.S. border patrol officers approaching her because she had unknowingly crossed the U.S. border.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers told Roman, who is a French citizen and was without any ID or travel permit when she was jogging, that she had entered the country illegally.
Roman had been visiting her mother in British Columbia to work on her English when the incident occurred, according to a CBC report.
At first, Roman didn’t realize the severity of what was happening, but she was eventually transported to the Tacoma Northwest Detention Center where she was detained for two weeks.
“They put me in the caged vehicles and brought me into their facility,” she said in the report. “They asked me to remove all my personal belongings with my jewelry, they searched me everywhere. Then I understood it was getting very serious, and I started to cry a bit.”
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Roman’s mother eventually contacted her daughter and made the trip to the detention center, which is run by the Department of Homeland Security, to provide the appropriate documents. She then had to take the documents back to Immigration Canada where they determined Roman was eligible to be released.
Roman was released on June 6.
The good news is that Roman was reunited with her family. The unfortunate part is an incident like this can lead to some lasting trauma, but a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said authorities handled the situation appropriately. Roman’s family is unsure whether she will ever be allowed back in the United States.
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