An Irish family's holiday was left in tatters this week when the dad was imprisoned for overstaying a visa 22 years ago.
Darren Mitchell and his wife Linda had been planning a family holiday to the United States with their three kids for months.
Since revealing their holiday plans to the kids on Christmas Eve as a surprise, the trip has been the subject of excited planning for months.
"All we could talk about among ourselves was, you know, about this amazing trip that was going to happen," Mr Mitchell told Philip Boucher-Hayes on Liveline on RTÉ Radio 1.
Instead of a once-in-a-lifetime trip taking in the sights and sounds of Orlando and Disney, Darren’s trip ended before it began, with him in handcuffs in a Federal Penitentiary.
"We went through a place called Primary Inspection and we spoke to a border agent and everything seemed fine, we gave another set of fingerprints and then suddenly his attitude and line of questioning changed and all the attention was focused on me," he said.
Darren Mitchell tells @boucherhayes of his experience with US authorities after he was refused entry to the United States after he overstayed his visa in 1996 #Liveline
— Liveline (@rteliveline) March 27, 2018
"He asked when was the first time I was in the United States and I kind of hesitated and fumbled my line because of a long flight and said 2002, my wife Linda nudged me and said it was 1996.
"He asked how long I stayed for and I said three months, he took my passport and separated it from the rest, he said they would need to look into it and asked me to follow him."
Mr Mitchell explained that he was issued a holiday visa for the US in 1996, which he overstayed by "not more than two weeks" and that this was the reason given to him for his detention.
Darren was detained for two hours of questioning before getting the news that he would not be allowed to enter the United States.
The dad of three explained: "I’ll tell you what’s going to happen here’, she said. ‘You’re not entering the United States today. That’s it‘,"
After "secondary" questioning, Darren was handcuffed and taken to prison, where he spent the night.
"They made me feel like a criminal…I just wanted to curl up and zone out as much as possible."
He said things were understandably emotional.
"The kids saw their mam crying and they started crying, my wife tried to reason with the agent and she was threatened that she would be arrested," he explained.
"I managed to calm Linda down, I went along each of the kids and tried to reassure them it would be okay and to go enjoy their holiday, it wasn't how we planned it but it is how it is, the kids were bawling.
"Linda said she wouldn't stay without me and the border agent said that was entirely her choice but she would have to foot the bill herself for her and the children to fly home."
After around 24 hours, Mr Mitchell says he was relieved to be on his way back to Ireland.
"I was escorted to the plane by two armed guards in full view of the passengers I was going to be on the plane with, I was in handcuffs until we reached the departures area," he told the Liveline show.
"I was getting some funny stares when I was sitting at the departures gate, I didn't know how it would be on the plane but it was okay, to be honest, I was just relieved to be leaving the country," the father-of-three said.
His family are still in Florida and they are trying to enjoy their much anticipated holiday.
Darren said: "Linda is making the best of it but it is hard for her.
"I was reassured by the border agent that I will be allowed enter the US again but I will have to go in via a different means, by submitting an application to the American Embassy in Ballsbridge and applying for a ten-year travel visa.
"That in itself would involve a lot of hoop jumping.
"I can't really say at the moment if I'd want to go back, my head's all over the place, I want to just get my family home and have a think about it.
"I'll have to talk to my wife when she's home, for all I know she could be against ever going back there but then again they could be having a whale of a time, I hope they are enjoying it because they deserve it."
Listen to the full Liveline interview above.
