British Woman Caught Trying to Swim Her Way into the US

An Englishwoman with her heart set on getting into America was so driven by her goal that she swam across the St. John River from New Brunswick, climbed out soaking wet, and knocked on the door of a house in Fort Kent, Maine. Katharine Mary Hiscox, 33, has been charged with entering the United States without inspection and being in the United States after deportation. She has been temporarily detained at the Penobscot County Jail while she awaits trial.

The Englishwoman had been deported from Atlanta in January of this year, after which she had been barred from re-entering the United States. But apparently the lure of America was just too strong for her. Hiscox, also known as Kate Pagram, decided to swim across the St. John River just before midnight Saturday, where she walked into the town of Fort Kent and knocked on the door of a house. The homeowner was shocked to see a sopping wet woman at that time of the night, but he drove her to the Blue Sky Hotel in Madawaska. When he got home, he called the Fort Kent police Sunday morning to tell them about his midnight visitor. U.S. Border Patrol agents hurried to the hotel only to find that Hiscox had checked out a little over 30 minutes earlier. Agents then alerted the Fort Fairfield and Houlton stations to be on the lookout for the woman.

A little while later, Agent Dennis Harmon was driving in Littleton when he saw a taxi from Madawaska with a woman passenger in the back, so he followed the cab until it pulled into a convenience store parking lot. The cab driver got out and went into the store, and Harmon decided he should check out the passenger. As he approached the passenger side of the cab, the door opened. The woman in the back seat told Harmon that she was a British citizen, and that she had entered the United States by swimming across the St. John River. Incredulous, Harmon asked her if she had been admitted by a customs officer or border patrol, and she answered no.

Hiscox’s unsuccessful attempt to breaststroke her way into the United States was foiled by a miscommunication with an American friend, according to court documents. She had been traveling with her friend in New Brunswick, where they stayed together at a hotel in Edmundston. Hiscox claimed that her friend was unaware of her plans, but they had planned to meet up with each other Saturday night in Fort Kent. But apparently the two missed each other, because Hiscox’s American friend was at the Fort Kent border crossing with her car being inspected just as Hiscox was pulling herself out of the river. Agents inspecting the car found a tax bill for Hiscox from Somerset, England, as well as a subpoena from North Carolina in the name of Kate Pagram, documentation for two bank accounts in England in the name of K.M. Hiscox, and suitcases containing two different sizes of women’s clothing. Because the American woman didn’t have any contraband in her car, border patrol agents allowed her to enter the country. But by then it was too late for her to meet her friend, and Hiscox was already being driven to the hotel by the kind stranger who answered the knock in his door. Thanks to that kind stranger, Hiscox is now securely under lock and key awaiting the outcome of her illegal lap across the St. John River. If convicted, she could face up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.