Not excusing the alleged conditions of their detainment, but from what's given in the article I see nothing amiss in how they were apprehended and scheduled for deportation.
> Vancouver when an animal ventured into the road, forcing them to make an unexpected detour.
> U.S. authorities disputed the family’s version of events, saying they were spotted via video surveillance “slowly and deliberately driving through a ditch onto Boundary Road in Lynden
Well if they were driving through a ditch it would have to be slow and deliberate, especially with a baby in car. I wonder if the same video surveillance saw this animal too. It would have to be a moose or a bear presumably. Wonder if they were following Google or Apple maps direction. Hopefully there is a big red warning there to not send people on detours via international borders.
> “Attempts were made to return the individuals to Canada, however, Canada refused to allow their return and two attempts to contact the United Kingdom consulate were unsuccessful,”
It's a bureaucratic hell. US authorities claim they tried to send them to Canada which refused to take them back. But also they tried to contact UK consulate, which also somehow didn't work. At the same time the family say they couldn't contact UK authorities. I think they wanted to be the ones making the call but were denied.
Moose don't live that far South, and the bears stay near the mountains, which are vary far away from Boundary road near Lynden. But of course non-locals wouldn't know this, so they wouldn't realize how preposterous it sounds when they spin their tale to the police.
There are meese all over the northern US, which is - last I checked - south of Canada. I encountered two (a mother and her calf) when hiking in the Tetons as a kid, and apparently there are a bunch in Northern Nevada.
http://customsandinternationaltradelaw.com/2013/12/13/intern...
The point is that the totality of their actions are not supporting their story very well.
On my daily routine I see plenty of people who magically drive luxury cars even with jobs that, on paper. would require probably ~50 years of more to accumulate the required amount of money to buy such a luxury.
No problem if you disclose and explain what it’s for, and in some cases can explain where it came from.
This is a basic money laundering protection policy almost every country I’ve gone through has similar.