If you read the first few paragraphs of the article very carefully, you will see that he was denied entry into Canada. That means he had to return to the US. He had already overstayed his US tourist visa. There is no indication that he had a ticket to fly to England after the supposed stay in BC.
Trust me on this. Really trust me on this. The guy has already overstayed his three-month visa. If he has done the diagonal south-north across America, he has probably overstayed by a seriously long time. The Canadians probably rejected his entry based on his failure to provide proof of financial resources and failure to substantiate his "planned" departure to England with a booked and confirmed air ticket.
The relationship with his ride "partner" also was probably identified as being liable to encourage him to stay in Canada over the (rather generous) six-month tourist visa the Canadians normally would grant.
On rejection from Canada, he had nowhere else to go, but back across the border to American territory. The Americans had no option but to look at his record. Hmmm, overstayed his original visa? Yes. No visa or continuing visa to re-enter the US? Nope. Any booked ticket to England? Nope.
The only thing they can do is detain him, then deport him. People who say it is stupid just don't have a clue. Rather, it is the arrogant Australian who is stupid and has no-one else to blame but himself...
Last edited by Rowan; 06-16-11 at 04:44 AM.