Regina couple faces border security scare at Las Vegas airport after Westjet flight

A Regina couple wants an apology from Westjet after a frightening experience in Las Vegas.

Lorna Evans, 68, said she and her husband flew on a direct Westjet flight from Regina to Las Vegas last week, but when they landed there was a delay and they had to wait nearly an hour before they were let off.

By the time they got out and into the airport, a flight attendant directed them down a hallway to a set of doors, but when they tried to open them, they were locked.

“There was no one there, so we had nowhere to go,” she explained. “We went back and someone else was trying other doors along the way for people that get on the planes for flights, and one was open, so we went out that way.”

Lorna Evans said she and her husband were among a group of people flying from Regina to Las Vegas, who were told they illegally entered the United States after being trapped in a hallway in the airport, and going out the only unlocked door they could find. (Lorna Evans/submitted)

She said when they got out, they figured they would go back around into the airport to get to customs, but that was not the case.

“We knew we needed to go through customs, but we didn’t know how to get there and there was no one to ask,” Evans said. ” There was no Westjet staff. We didn’t know what to do.”

She said their group of 15 people — on the flight from Regina to Las Vegas — went towards the baggage check, and couldn’t find their luggage, so they went to the area to exit from customs.

“The border security person told us this was really big, and we shouldn’t have done that, and now we have illegally crossed into the United States,” she said.

“I was really afraid. I thought I was going to go to jail. We all thought we were going to go.”

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Evans said the border security agent took her passport and then requested everyone’s passport a few minutes later.

“We just all decided that we better cooperate and not say too much,” she added.

Evans said they had to stay standing in an area outside of where customs is located, and after what she described as a lengthy period, another office came out.

“Then they decided that we all had to get into a single file and follow the one officer. We didn’t know where we were going. We asked where we were going, and he said, ‘Just come with me,'” she said.

“So we walked for a while into some back rooms, and then he told us all to stop. So we stopped and stood there for a while, and then he said, ‘Okay, start walking again.'”

Eventually, they were taken into customs offices and eventually to where the customs agents were.

“Then he had us line up again and handed back our passports and told us to go to a customs officer; then finally we got through that and directed to where our luggage was.”

One of the worst parts of the entire situation, as Evans explained, was the uncertainty of what would happen to them.

“It was just traumatizing thinking that maybe we’re going to be deported immediately because we did come into the country somewhat illegally — we didn’t realize we were doing that,” she explained.

“All of us were worrying that we were going to be detained and maybe put into custody. We had no idea what was going to happen to us.”

She said the customs officer told her that Westjet needed to deal with the situation with customs and that it was “very big.”

“I guess we could have walked right out of the airport and could have entered the United States without ever going through customs. If that’s true, I can see why border security thought it was a big concern,” she said.

Evans said she eventually called Westjet after the ordeal and said the person working for the company said it was a learning experience, “to not go out a door you’re not supposed to.”

“And I said, ‘But the other door was locked, and we were alone in a hallway. So we found a way out; Westjet should have been there. Where were the staff?”

“She said, ‘Well, I don’t know, but you shouldn’t have gone out that door,” explained Evans.

“So it suddenly became our fault that we went out the wrong door.”

Evans said she wants an apology from Westjet and answers, including where the flight staff were, why they were left alone, and ultimately why the door was locked.

“I want an answer from them; they just don’t seem to be concerned with what happened to all of us,” she said.

“There were children that were crying; they were scared.”

Evans said they are wrapping up their Las Vegas trip, and flying back to Regina on Dec. 28.

980 CJME has reached out to Westjet for a response on the situation, but the company did not respond in time for comment.

— with files from 980 CJME’s Lisa Schick