A three-month old British baby was summoned for an interview at the US embassy in London after his grandfather mistakenly ticked the wrong box on a visa form.
Little Harvey Kenyon-Cairns had been due to fly to Orlando in Florida for his first holiday overseas, until his grandfather Paul Kenyon made the error on a visa waiver form.
Mr Kenyon accidentally ticked yes for the question, “Do you seek to engage in or have you ever engaged in terrorist activities, espionage, sabotage, or genocide?” He only realized his mistake when the baby was refused a visa.
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The 62 year old Grandfather said “I couldn’t believe that they couldn’t see it was a genuine mistake and that a three-month-old baby would be no harm to anyone”.
US embassy holds ‘terrorist’ 3-month-old baby because wrong box was checked on visa form https://t.co/Xsj9HfnHY1 pic.twitter.com/zwhakVRDNi
— Raw Story (@RawStory) April 16, 2017
The Guardian reports:
The baby was taken from his home in Poynton, Cheshire, to the embassy in Grosvenor Square, London, to be questioned by officials. The round trip took about 10 hours, longer than the nine-and-a-half-hour flight time from Manchester to Orlando.
“Baby Harvey was good as gold for the interview and never cried once. I thought about taking him along in an orange jumpsuit, but thought better of it,” said Kenyon. “They didn’t appear to have a sense of humour over it at all and couldn’t see the funny side.
“He’s obviously never engaged in genocide, or espionage, but he has sabotaged quite a few nappies in his time, though I didn’t tell them that at the US embassy.”
The mess-up cost Kenyon an extra £3,000 ($3,800), as the new visa didn’t arrive in time for the family’s flights.
He flew out to his holiday villa with his wife, Cathy, 57, and his granddaughter Ava on the scheduled date, but Harvey and his parents, Faye Kenyon-Cairns, 27, and her partner John Cairns, 31, had to fly out separately a few days later.
“It was a very expensive mistake, but I was hoping the US embassy would realise that it was just a simple error without us having to jump through all the hoops,” said Kenyon.
He added: “If you were a terrorist, I suspect you’d not be ticking yes on the Esta form anyway.”
Holding a 3 month old for State Dept. questioning is exactly why Trump and Tillerson must be Impeached and Jailed.https://t.co/8gKhAoHavB
— Adam B. Bear (@democraticbear) April 17, 2017
Niamh Harris
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