US immigration may deport navigation error woman
September 02 2009 by Rebekah Nahai
US immigration patrols Canada border
An Argentinian woman living in California without a US visa faces deportation after accidentally crossing the Canadian border.
Estafania Menendez, 26, was driving from her fiance’s home in Missoula, Montana back to California when she mistakenly drove through the Canadian border. Canadian officials said she could turn around and drive back through the US border.
"I'm bad with directions," she said
US immigration officials stopped Menendez after she made a U-turn to re-enter the US and did not have a passport, birth certificate or any identifying information apart from a foreign driver’s license.
Menendez has overstayed her six-month US visa by seven years, making a home for herself in California and holding a series of unreported jobs. She was most recently employed as a bikini dancer at a gentleman’s club.
While she sought cash-only work to avoid revealing her US immigration status, Menendez says she registered with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and has been paying taxes.
Officials at the US border refused her entry into the country, saying she had overstayed her visa so long that she would not be allowed into the US for ten years. Menendez was given the option to remain in Canada or face deportation by the US.
She is currently undergoing court proceedings in the US and has been in the custody of a detention centre since her arrest.
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