Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: Becky Burke, R.E. Burke

British Comics Artist R.E. Burke Still Being Held In US Detention Camp

British comic book creator R.E. Burke, or Becky Burke, is still being held in a USA detention camp, without news of release or repatriation

Over a week ago, Bleeding Cool first reported the story of British cartoonist R.E Burke, or Becky Burke, who had been detained by ICE when crossing the US/Canada border over what was revealed as a trivial visa issue. She has currently been held for nineteen days at a detention centre in Tacoma, Washington, in orange prison uniform, sleeping in a dormitory with more than 100 people. She received a lot more press attention the week after the initial reports but less in recent days, and the situation has not been resolved. A GoFundMe to raise money for a flight home was successful and has been closed, but there has been no sign of her release or deportation. R.E. Burke sent a letter to her friend Lauren Hudgins dated the 7th of March, which arrived a week later saying,

"I am planning lots of comics for afterwards and drawing often (including portraits of the other women, which make them very happy—the least I can do when they are in very much worse predicament than me). I keep thinking about when I will be on that plane. I will be smiling the entire journey home."

Those running R.E. Burke's social media account report that,

"A friend visited Becky Burke yesterday. Becky has frequent 30-second coughing fits that leave her diaphragm sore. It's terrible to be sick away from home, much less in a prison. She does have access to a doctor to make sure she isn't dying or anything, and she can buy lozenges.  She had been wearing the same sweatshirt for two weeks and spent a frigid night without it to have it washed. She thinks that might have contributed to her getting sick on top of the stress of imprisonment. She has been tested once for COVID. Negative.  Well-meaning strangers are coming to visit her at the detention center and she really appreciates it but she is too exhausted and sick to want to see anyone she doesn't know. She isn't lonely because she is getting to know the women she is detained with. Becky now has the number for Northwest Immigrant Rights Group that she can give to other detainees and get them some help, too. She knows how lucky she is to have a local-ish support system. When she's feeling well enough to goes out to shoot baskets with a daily goal of 10. She is doing her best to maintain her mental health, but she is depleted with illness. She has sketched 78 pages of comics while in detention and is considering a book to tell her story and the stories of other detainees."

While events such as these are impacting others' decisions. Comic book creator Ryan Estrada posted on BlueSky,

"Hyun Sook and I have officially canceled our 4 month trip to the US. We have planned this trip for years, I was about to announce events across the country, and Hyun Sook resigned from the job she loved and held for a decade so she'd be available. But the US is no longer a safe place to travel. With what's happened THIS WEEK, all it'd take is for a border guard to find out Hyun Sook was attending a book conference to accuse her of planning illegal work and have ICE drag her handcuffed to a concrete cell. Finding out she writes BANNED books might put them in a mood to make things worse. WHO KNOWS how much worse things will get by the summer when we planned to leave, or while we were there. She wrote her book about living under a dictator to warn us that it was possible. Time has proven that it is, and I don't plan to make her relive it. SOOOO to make up for all these lost events I'll be loading up on virtual visits and podcast appearances! If you want me to talk to your class, your library, your book club, your podcast, or such… give me a holler. I don't charge nothin', I just like talking about books."

And after that blew up a little, Ryan added,

"This thread was meant to update friends, but has gotten far more attention that expected, from politicians and reporters so I'd better add context before it is wildly misunderstood. I am an American living in Korea with my wife Kim Hyun Sook. We write books together… Banned Book Club, No Rules Tonight, and Good Old Fashioned Korean Spirit are our books about her experiences growing up under a dictator in 1980s Korea. Banned Book Club has been banned in Florida, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Texas. We had planned a 4 month trip of book festivals, book talks, and important family gatherings, but due to safety concerns have cancelled said trip. I wouldn't be in danger at the border, but she would. I will neither risk her safety or abandon her her for 4 months to talk about her book without her."

We'll let you know more as we hear it.

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