Recently a tourist from U.K. Rebecca Burke was , back packing and doing home stays in US for 6 weeks on a tourist visa . When she was leaving American officials classed her as an illegal alien. She had the money for her return flight back to U.K. but she was detained in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) detention centre for 19 days
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Yes, she was classified as such, but that’s not related to hosts being prosecuted for hiring illegal immigrants — that’s actually something separate that’s routinely prosecuted in various countries.
Like in the U.S., Canada and U.K., immigration agents will conduct raids and arrest people who’ve been smuggled into countries to work without going through immigration at all and those employers know that, because they’re often hiring that way repeatedly and continuously to avoid higher payrolls and/or to commit crimes like running prostitution businesses. Those employers are routinely prosecuted with jail time and fines.
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The young girls, whom I mentioned and linked to, were tourists and part of their journey included visiting American relatives within the United States.
At the airport, as soon as they mentioned the word “volunteering,” officers from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) told them to stop speaking and immediately detained them.
What followed was interrogations, DNA mouth swabs, handcuffing, mugshots, repeated naked strip searches, fingerprinting by the FBI, and being forced into inmate uniforms.
Personal belongings and jewelry were confiscated. Denied contact with their parents and received no clear information about when they would be released.
They were required to sign official documents and placed in a group detention cell at the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu—alongside 25 inmates, some arrested on drug charges, others facing more serious lethal accusations.
Ultimately, they were imprisoned and deported for “roofing”—a term used to describe unauthorized work, in exchange for accommodation. The number of similar cases has risen so sharply that immigration lawyers in Hawaii have now set up an emergency hotline.
Esther Yoo, Professor of Law and Director of the Refugee & Immigration Law Clinic, Univercity of Hawaii, explains:
“In a broader context, any traveler can be detained if there are issues with their visa. But what’s highly unusual is CBP interpreting a plan to volunteer as a plan to work. That’s an extremely broad reading of the concept of ‘work’—one I’ve never seen before. It likely reflects the government’s increasingly restrictive stance on immigration overall.”
Regardless of how people view the situation: For what reason, beyond visa, should a border officer distinguish between a tourist picking organic fruit on a farm and one feeding a donkey on a farm?
When visitors as above can be reinterpreted as labor violations, the line between traveler and violator becomes dangerously thin - for both guest and host
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Immigration short-term stays in the US typically involve nonimmigrant visas for temporary purposes like tourism, business, or study. These visas allow individuals to stay in the US for a specific period, with potential extensions depending on the visa type and circumstances. Failure to leave the US on time can result in being out of status, potentially voiding the visa and making future entry more difficult.
Key thing is immigration includes short term stays. Includes non immigrant visas, but still immigration under the law. That is why it is called IMMIGRATION and CUSTOMS. Not IMMIGRATION, short term stays and customs.
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The point is that prosecutors use the law mentioned for employers of illegal immigrants who are in the U.S. to work in multiple numbers and longer term — that’s why the law was written with those specifics, as I pasted in the Cornell law school website image to show. It doesn’t help to conflate things. When prosecutors pursue charges, punishments and such, they have to meet criteria. If not, they lose and hurt their own careers.
For folks who don’t know about U.S. prosecutors and their incentives for pursuing cases or not: They’re judged on their records of wins vs. losses. Not only do they get hired, promoted, rewarded with raises and such while working for government agencies based on such performance, their careers beyond (in the private sector) are boosted or limited by such.
So even if any current administration pressed them to behave X way, they’ll think of their careers beyond a few years. If they go around randomly applying laws atypically or such, they’ll suffer consequences beyond any one case.
Like would a prosecutor pursue a lone THS host with years of jail? Highly unlikely, because they’d look stupid for how they waste resources. Even winning such a case would look lame, compared with what else they could be doing.
There’s a reason prosecutors call the media to cover big cases and such — they want to look good and want their agencies to look good. And many prosecutors go into private practice later, as defense attorneys and/or run for office. They don’t get points for chasing small potatoes.
To punish a host, a prosecutor would have to build a winnable case. That’s not the same as deporting a foreigner — those people don’t have the same rights.
It really doesn’t take much to do so: the app’s ‘Application’ process clearly outlines a transaction of what’s offered and expected—interviews, tasks, responsibilities etc.
The campaigns, SoMe and calculator openly highlight the cost-saving benefits of receiving premium services for free instead of hiring a paid one.
Unfortunately, it reads more like a free labor exchange—especially for hosts running a B&B, farm, or similar setup, where the line grows even thinner
Of course, you’re entitled to your perspective and to make choices for yourself, like we all are individually. Other folks might think otherwise. The beauty of living our lives our ways.
Thanks, appreciate the reminder.
Yes, as a European, I do still enjoy luxuries like free speech and education. So, it wasn’t a personal mantra - simply a direct summary from actual events, foreign correspondents, immigration counselors, and those pesky things called official ministry guidelines.
Not my truth. Just… the truth. Hope that clears things up, ever so slightly.
Happy Holidays 
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You can get civil fines lying to a border agent. Much like getting a speeding ticket, but federal charge.
I cross the border frequently and often have food. Most times, the guy lets me go with my cucumbers or oranges. Last time, I had 2 tomatoes and 3 oranges. He took them. I was going from Canada to US, and actually the oranges had already crossed the border, as I had bought them in MI. You never know who you will get.
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Reality is, THS sitters are still doing sits abroad, managing to clear border control in various countries, including in the U.S. Again, that’s the beauty of everyone making choices as they see fit for themselves.
Clearly, we’re watching two different movies. Bless your heart🌾
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Bless your heart.
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It is illegal immigration in the US. There are many ways that a person can violate immigration laws, and entering the country to engage in unauthorized employment is one of them.
As for employer penalties for hiring undocumented workers - fines start at $700 for a first violation. In reality, it is extremely unlikely that a THS homeowner would come to the attention of ICE (US Immigration and Customs enforcement), especially when they have other priorities. ICE targets companies with large undocumented workforces. Unfortunately, even when targetted (which is rare) it is the foreign national workers who suffer far greater consequences than the employers.
Source: https://www.foxrothschild.com/publications/employers-may-face-civil-and-criminal-penalties-for-immigration-violations#:~:text=to%20ensure%20compliance.-,Criminal%20Penalties%20for%20Immigration%20Violations,personal%20assets%20in%20extreme%20cases. Also, I am an immigration lawyer.
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Yes, much bigger fish to fry when it comes to employers. Those bosses are not only breaking the law, they’re doing it systematically and repeatedly or in ongoing ways.
Every prosecutor has to get higher-up approval to prosecute cases. Imagine you’re a prosecutor and have to ask your boss to let you prosecute a host who had a sitter for a week or even a few months versus say an employer who let illegal immigrants work at their business indefinitely. (There are countless such employers at all times, some involved in human trafficking.)
Every prosecutor’s higher up also would consider how stupid it would be, because it takes similar resources to build a case for a small fry versus prosecuting a boss of a company. And if they want to gain credibility for their own careers, they don’t want to be seen as lacking judgment, whether they stay in government and want to advance, or to pursue private sector work or run for office eventually.
Nowadays, anyone who aspires for elected office considers how things will play out in political attack ads and social media, even for decisions made years back.
And note: ICE doesn’t decide whom to prosecute — to pursue a host, that would be the decision of a public prosecutor, federal or otherwise. For many small crimes, prosecutors don’t even bother, because they have limited resources and many more cases to consider vs. what they can handle.
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Given the enormous amount of discussion generated by this thread, I can’t help but wonder if it wouldn’t make sense for the community to have a “GoFundMe” to obtain a professional opinion from a specialist in this field?
Specifically, what if we hired an immigration attorney, licensed in the United States, ideally with a board certification in immigration law (or similar - certifications vary by state) and ask them the following questions:
Given THS’ arrangements - exchanging home and pet sitting for a free place to stay - can an individual arriving in the United States on a tourist visa legally participate in a THS sit? If not, then what types of visa would permit them to engage in such sitting?
Given THS’ arrangements - exchanging home and pet sitting for a free place to stay - is it legal for homeowners to knowingly engage an individual who is not legally authorized to work in the United States for such a sit? If it is not legal, what consequences might the homeowner face under the law, and does this vary by state? (So, for example, might a homeowner in Florida face different consequences than a homeowner in Colorado?) I wouldn’t want a state-by-state outline, just an understanding if state matters.
Given THS’ arrangements, what consequences could an individual face if they assist someone to enter the United States illegally (for example, coaching them on what story to tell border agents)?
It would be interesting to have similar consultations for attorneys in other major THS regions such as the UK and Australia.
I would 100% contribute to a GoFundMe to hire an attorney for such a consultation. (Yes, yes, I know THS has those letters…those letters do NOT answer the questions above)
For my own part, I am not interested in the likelihood of being caught, or whether a prosecutor is or is not busy with other cases or thinks they might win. I am interested in whether the activity is or is not against the law, and if it is against the law, what the legally outlined consequences might be. And I will trust the opinion only of a person who is recognized by their government for being a specialist in that field
As a final point, if it is illegal for someone on a tourist visa to sit, or for a homeowner to engage someone to sit who is not legally authorized to be in the country, I would value the attorney’s opinion on how best to persuade lawmakers to change those laws. I would like for home and pet sitting to be 100% legal regardless of citizenship or immigration status. Based on everything I’ve researched so far, it is not, and if I can do anything to help change that, I would like to know.
Collaborating on making it legal could be a very meaningful use of our time.
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For anyone watching,who is not a native or expert on American culture, including mods ,“bless your heart” is a very American way of “politely” throwing shade.
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I haven’t consulted an attorney formally, but I have a client who is an immigration attorney and deals with “bread and butter” immigration issues like people who have overstayed visas and/or people seekig asylum. This person has been very clear that there is no gray area. In-kind deals, volunteer work, even internships, can’t be done on tourist visas. The idea of of pursuading the US congress to change federal immigration law to make things easier for housesitters is unrealistic given that getting congress to act on any immigration law has proved almost impossible. The situaiton is what it is. People can choose to deal with it how every they want.
If you are a US citizen, you can certainly write to your congressional representative about this, but at the moment they may have bigger concerns regarding immigration.
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That sort of thing comes up when someone can’t stick with logical discussions.
Not judging. Just eating popcorn.
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