A three-month old British ‘terrorist’ baby was summoned to the US embassy for an interview, after his grandfather accidentally ticked the wrong box on a visa form.
Paul Kenyon was filling out his grandson’s visa waiver form before the family went to Orlando, Florida when he accidentally ticked yes for the question, “Do you seek to engage in or have you ever engaged in terrorist activities, espionage, sabotage, or genocide?”
Kenyon only realized his mistake when the baby was refused a visa.
“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,” Kenyon was quoted as saying.
The baby was brought to the London embassy to meet with officials. The round trip from Cheshire to London and back took about 10 hours, longer than the flight to Florida.
“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 humor 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,” he said.
Harvey’s new visa didn’t arrive on time and he and his parents had to book new flights to join the rest of the family in Florida a few days later.
“If you were a terrorist, I suspect you’d not be ticking yes on the ESTA form anyway,” Kenyon pointed out.