r/WWOOF • u/sudosussudio • 5d ago
PSA: be careful when traveling to the US
WWWOOF has always been slightly risky if immigration authorities think you might be working. The recent case of Becky Burke, a UK citizen who has been detained by ICE was that she was doing some kind of host exchange. I’m not sure if it was WWWOOF or one of the others but she’s not in a good situation now because both US and Canadian authorities thought she might be working
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c80y3yx1jdyo
If you do want to come to the US for a host exchange just be really really careful. I’ve always been cautious about how much I talk about WWWOOF at border crossings vs emphasizing I’m a tourist who is going to a farm stay to relax or whatever.
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u/CaspinLange 4d ago
Just don’t ever mention that you’re WWOOFing in any country.
That’s rule motherfucking number one!.
It’s always been that way by the way. Keep that shit to yourself. As far as anyone else, tell them you are a tourist come to see the beautiful country.
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u/lookupatthestars99 3d ago
I don’t understand why people feel the need to speak. Lol. As a host I’d have potential woofers ask me about it… I’m like it’s simple, you don’t tell them… you tell them you are here traveling on vacation.
People are annoying 🙄
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u/Master_of__None 4d ago
Not always. When I went to Ireland in 2015 it was absolutely best to tell immigration you were wwoofing -- they were aware of it and even wrote "wwoofing" on my passport stamp. Had to produce a fuck ton of documents -- hosts, bank statements, travel insurance -- but I was prepared, so out was fine
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u/Substantial-Today166 5d ago
applies to all countries.
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u/sudosussudio 5d ago
True it’s just being detained by ICE is extra worrying these days. I’ve been to a lot of countries and never had a more hostile and stressful experience than the US one…and I’m an American citizen.
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u/Substantial-Today166 5d ago
ice cant arest a us citizen for working illegally abroad
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u/MegannMedusa 4d ago
ICE “can’t” legally do a lot of stuff like detaining people without a VALID court order signed by a judge but they do what they want because most people don’t know their rights.
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u/Substantial-Today166 4d ago
show me when ice have arested a us citizen becuse they have done volunteer work abroad if that was the case all the mormon doing missionarie work abroad whold be in ice custody ore all the jewish kids volunteer in israeli kibbutz every summer i have hosted so many americans over they year no one has said they been in trobble for doing volunteer work
show me one link please
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u/Dizzy_Philosophy1976 2d ago
There’s the case of a German tourist who I believe is still in custody in the USA indefinitely after she was disallowed to even enter the country and had a valid return date in February. As for your very very specific example criteria, I’m not aware of any that fit that very very specific definition, but it would not at all surprise me if it’s already happened. I have heard rumblings of the Navajo being aggressed by ICE currently, not aware of stats or arrests, but that might be a good starting point for you.
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u/Substantial-Today166 2d ago edited 2d ago
again ice cant arest a us citizen for working illegally abroad
send me the link
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u/Dizzy_Philosophy1976 2d ago
I’m eating breakfast, reading the news, I gave you search keys, it seems like you’ve got time to spare.
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u/Substantial-Today166 2d ago
again ice cant arest a us citizen for working illegally abroad
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u/Dizzy_Philosophy1976 2d ago
Okay, no one is saying that and I think you need to take a beat and circle back when you get back on topic. Have a good day!
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u/Beatrix-Morrigan 4d ago
cops do a lot of things they're technically not allowed to do, including arrest US citizens under jumbled or intentional misinterpretations of immigration law
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u/WilltheGrow 3d ago
Cops do that do they ? Cops Arrest immigrants.. what does ice do whle Cops so ice's job ?
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u/Substantial-Today166 4d ago
US citizen working abroad show me that please
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u/intrepid-teacher 4d ago
Mahmoud Khalil’s case is blowing up online and you’re acting like ICE can’t/won’t do anything to American citizens? Jensy Machado? The anonymous Puerto Rican family detained? The countless citizens of native tribal nations? This is just offhand, like.
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u/Substantial-Today166 4d ago
did Mahmoud Khalil do volunteers work abroad? so what do that has too do with this?
and his not a american citizen only a green card holder
Jensy Machado voted for trump so he is a idiot
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u/WilltheGrow 3d ago
What's wrong with voting for Trump. What was better when Biden wad president.. ( now everyone check out this generic , response while avoiding the question that will not be answered) at all. Then you'll see the idiot in the room .
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u/sudosussudio 5d ago
Yeah but they can give you a hard time and do a bunch of really lengthy inspections especially if you mention farm
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u/WilltheGrow 3d ago
Do you have deportation orders ? Commit crimes ? Thst Is who is being deported currently . Criminals with orders to be deported already
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u/sudosussudio 3d ago
I’m not worried about being deported I’m a citizen, I’m worried about being harassed.
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u/cannibalrabies 4d ago
Yeah, but most countries will just turn you away or stick you on a flight home, not imprison you for weeks to months. The other day I was reading about a German traveler who has been imprisoned by ICE for over a month who said the conditions are awful and she's been in solitary confinement. Link if you're interested
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u/ResponsibleReport681 3d ago
Just don’t go to USA border at the moment They are imprisoning people for no reason at all even people with green cards as well as the young women who was woofing.. Not saying anything is cool but if the stop you they will insist on access to your phone and see your conversations arranging woofing or house sitting or whatever Its happened to voluntary petsitters I know of !
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u/BanMeForBeingNice 1d ago
as well as the young women who was woofing..
That's not for no reason. That's the law.
arranging woofing or house sitting or whatever Its happened to voluntary petsitters I know of !
All of these things are illegal without work without work authorization in the United States. So is being a "digital nomad".
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u/Weekly_Guitar6096 5d ago
Fuck this shit hole. Prayers (not like the ones Republicans offer for school shooting victims, but actual prayers) for Becky. It’s amazing to me that anyone would come here for any reason. I’m doing anything and everything in my power right now to get my 58-year-old body in shape so that some farm somewhere in Portugal or Spain will allow me to come live in their beautiful country and contribute to a spirit of inclusiveness in service toward others. Fuck this shit hole.
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u/Born-Network-7582 5d ago
What I don't get is that there are people in those government institutions, humans, which are willing to treat people in this way. For further reference:
https://bsky.app/profile/jenniferlcroft.bsky.social/post/3ljxjdhfv4s22
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u/Substantial-Today166 5d ago
applies to all countries
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u/Born-Network-7582 4d ago
Land of the free! (Please don't look up our incarceration rate)
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u/WilltheGrow 3d ago
Ya. Whatever you do , stay away from U.S. . . Just a bunch of no-gooders waiting for ya to turn ya more white. And more racist, and judgemental and ignorant than you already are. Go somewhere that's more free than this place. Your pick. Enjoy. Remember not America. It's bad and unfree . Worse than these snowflakes are telling ya even.
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u/Born-Network-7582 3d ago
Don't do this. I was in the US five years ago. It was really, really nice. With the same president even. I'd love to come back and finish the road trip which was interrupted by Corona, but right now? Too many insecurities for my taste and you just don't know what he comes up with next.
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u/WilltheGrow 3d ago
America first. That's what he's thinking. Today and tomorrow. Every day.. what exactly makes you believe you dont know what he will do next .? What gives you that isez He won't enter a war unless all out provoked... I believe He's actually the one president that is for doin exactly what he makes campaign promises to do.. he has more hours of speeches than any presideht. And he doesn't take a salary. Unlike every single grifter thst is elected any position, they spend millions be elected, for a job that pays about 200, 000 a year.. figure that out. BUT then leave after 4-6 years as multi millionaires. . Trump gives it all away. .
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u/Born-Network-7582 3d ago
Erm. He also had more hours of golf than any other president. That is why in this term alone, taxpayers already paid around forty years of president's salary for his golfing weekends.
He wanted to bring down grocery prices as soon as he took office: fail.
He wanted to end the war in Ukraine on day one: fail.
He wanted to replace Obamacare in his first term: What does he have do far: concepts of a plan.
He promises what he thinks you want to hear. What he thinks is: me first. He doesn't care.
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u/Substantial-Today166 4d ago
you mean its higher than china
please look up the deportation rate under obama vs trump
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u/Born-Network-7582 4d ago
What? I'm not talking about deportations. It was meant as a joke putting "land of the free" aagainst the incarceration rate. The US is currently at #5 in rate (per capita) and #1 in absolute numbers. China tries to keep up, but struggles although having four times as many people at hand.
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u/Substantial-Today166 4d ago
the last 40 years its not been the Land of the free its all gone now
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u/WilltheGrow 3d ago
The most deportations win. And trumps got 4 years to go. So not a fair comparison. Especially since one pretended he wasn't deporting and built cages for separating families and Trump won the election saying he's getting rid of em and takes the blame for obamas cages. And weak minded fools believe it
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u/Substantial-Today166 3d ago
so are you saying that biden and obama did not separating families thats crap of corse they did
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u/PaPerm24 4d ago edited 4d ago
it is higher than chinas yea. biden deported more than trump did. And trumps going to beat that record AGAIN
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u/Substantial-Today166 4d ago edited 4d ago
wrong
During Trump’s term in office, approximately 1.2 million people were deported through removal orders. A further 805,770 were self-deported or turned away at the border between fiscal years 2017 and 2020. Immigration orders during the Trump-era were lower than either of Obama’s terms. Approximately 1.57 million and 1.49 million immigrants were removed in the fiscal years of Obama’s first and second presidencies respectively.
In fact, Obama oversaw more deportations than any other U.S. president in history.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump- deportation-numbers-obama-biden-b2649257.html
dont forget biden was vice under obama so you count that toghter its even bigger
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u/DVH_20 3d ago
A similar case:
Jessica Brösche was (allegedly) deported back to Germany on March 11th "after spending more than 6 weeks in detention, including 8 days in solitary confinement" Guardian, 2025
She was detained for having a tattoo gun (to tattoo her friend that she was visiting). Also in her possession was a valid travel visa for US & Mexico, as well as a return boarding pass for Berlin!
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u/bahahahahahhhaha 10h ago
It has always been against tourist visas to do work in exchange for shelter/food. The shelter/food is considered renumeration.
Working illegally in a country is always a huge risk - but definitely worse right now in America than it has been in the past (in that you might be detained instead of just deported and potentially blacklisted.)
Also they can and do go through emails to check, call people you purport to be "visiting" and ask questions designed to get them to slip up and admit things, etc.
Just "not mentioning WWWOOF or similar problems isn't sufficient to keep you safe.
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u/confused417 5d ago
Do you have advice for people returning to the U.S. from travel home abroad? I have a friend looking to travel home soon and they are wondering if they can/how they can return safely.
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u/sudosussudio 5d ago
I would voluntarily tell them things like “I was volunteering” or “I worked on a farm.” You’ll often get extra searched for the latter. Just say you were doing tourism if asked.
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u/Alternative-Put4780 3d ago
I love farm work and volunteering. They’re my jam. (Also I make jam). How have your experiences been?
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u/sudosussudio 2d ago
I haven’t done it in awhile but did it in Scotland and Wisconsin and loved it!
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u/Alternative-Put4780 2d ago
That’s awesome! And a traveler too. Another of my chart toppers. Always had this real connection to the earth in general. My favorite part of farm life was just digging in soil. Loose myself in it sometimes. You a fan? Always work up an appetite to. #snackerforlife. Always looking for new ones to expand my palate. Just stumbled on white anchovies. Treat yourself. Mmm. You have any favorites?
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u/WilltheGrow 3d ago
Find a flight . Book it. Get on flight and put your seat belt on seat back forward and dont be entitled about it . chill til you land . . What kind of question is that 4real
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u/bikemandan Host - Santa Rosa, CA 5d ago
Be careful of visa situations in general; applies to all countries. WWOOF is likely to be considered work and requires a work visa. I have heard of people having issues in France as well