Tacoma, Washington - US Immigration and Customs Enforcement abducted and held a 65-year-old British woman who was in the country on a valid tourist visa at a detention center for six weeks.

When a simple error was noticed at the Canadian border, Karen Newton and her 66-year-old husband, Bill, were turned back to get the paperwork sorted so they could bring their rental car across.

While Karen had a valid tourist visa, Bill's had expired, and when they turned back to reenter the country, she was shackled alongside her husband, kept in a small locked cell, and made to sleep on the floor.

In an interview with The Guardian, Karen described the horrific situation she found herself in, despite having a valid tourist visa and no criminal record.

"I was worried for him," Karen said of her husband when they were forced to reenter the US. "I thought, 'Well, at least I am here to support him.'"

"I don't even have parking tickets in the background anywhere," Karen said, still confused as to why she was detained. "I am not a dangerous criminal. I didn't enter the country illegally, and I had everything I needed to be there."

After several days, Karen was transferred in what she describes as a "prison van" to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, where she spent the following six weeks.

"It's called a detention facility, but it's really a prison," Karen said. "Locking doors, guards everywhere, cells, everything clamped to the floor – it's how I imagine a prison to be."

On November 6, Karen was told she and Bill would be released, and they were driven to the airport. Their possessions were never returned and their home was in shambles, but it was "such a relief."

"It was just lovely to be in my own bed," Karen said. "You only really appreciate your freedom when you've had it taken away."