The teens claimed CBP targeted them because they hadn’t booked hotels for their entire stay in Hawaii.
“They found it suspicious that we hadn’t fully booked our accommodations for the entire five weeks in Hawaii,” Pohl said. “We wanted to travel spontaneously. Just like we had done in Thailand and New Zealand.”
I don’t get it. Why would anyone still travel to the US without being forced to?
There’s a significant amount of the US population who still don’t realise how bad things are, you really expect everyone outside the US to be any better?
I assure you, everyone outside of the US knows how bad the US is… the US is the laughing stock of the world right now. We get daily reminders how shit it is, how shit the economy is, how many mass shootings there were today. The world is fascinated by it, sometimes bored.
In this case with the young travellers, they have probably had the holiday booked for ages. Some people just think it wouldn’t happen to them. These sorts of checks would seem random anyway. These sorts of things appear on near every episode of Border Patrol (in Australia) where someone is being sent home because of lack of funds to sustain their length of stay etc…
Ah yes, the hive mind of all non US citizens sharing the same knowledge.
Well yeah, there are two types of people in the world: Americans and Not-Americans. So these Not-American teenagers would certainly be fully aware of the current political climate in America.
Which bit are you objecting to? If you don’t believe that the US is being portrayed by every news agency (worldwide) as a dumpster fire, you are deluded
You’d be surpised by how many people don’t follow international news.
It’s not just in the news. My husband is a lawyer. He was on a training conference today. Part of it was about how the rule of law needs to be followed and society only works when it is. They then discussed how important it was to upkeep that using America as an example of a government no longer following rule of law. This wasn’t internet memes. This was senior legal minds discussing how American democracy is failing.
Most people aren’t lawyers.
Whilst you’re absolutelly right that not everybody outside the US follows what’s going on in the US, it makes sense to expect that the universe of people who have the money and inclination to go spend a whole month travelling in the US AND are not at all aware of what’s going on in the US, is miniscule - if you’re a middle class person in a wealthy enough country (hence you can afford the plane ticket and the costs of 1 month worth of accomodation and travelling around the US), who can speak English and who is interested in the US that you want to spending a whole month travelling there, you’re almost certainly paying attention to all things America and since what’s has been popping up in the news all over the World, you’re almost certainly aware of that.
I mean, I can understand how poor people in Latin American who would want to immigrate to the US by walking all the way there might not be up to date with what’s going on in the US or at least fully understand the implications, but that doesn’t make sense for actual European tourists who can afford to and chose to fly there and spend an whole month there.
I get that. My point is that in arenas that have usually nothing to do with the USA, it’s being talked about as fact that the USA is in a failed state at the moment.
It doesn’t have the dramatics of things like 9/11 that changed the world irrevocably. However, it’s a similar feeling for those not in the USA. The world has changed and won’t be the same. You don’t have to follow the news to be aware.
don’t follow international news
… don’t use social media, and don’t talk to anybody that does those things (because it’s basically impossible for it to not enter normal conversation).
Yeah, there certainly exist some people like this. But I doubt they are the ones booking international trips.
… don’t use social media, and don’t talk to anybody that does those things (because it’s basically impossible for it to not enter normal conversation).
Oh, they definitly on social media and talk to people. But that still doesn’t mean you’re exposed to US politics. People have their own domestic politics to talk about. What happens in the US really isn’t as relevant to the daily life of the average foreigner as you might think.
I wonder where you’re from. In the parts of Europe I know it seems to be everywhere, all the media, all the information channels, just inescapable. And it’s not US politics, it’s international politics - tariffs, visas, research financing, USAID, military alliances, new territory ambitions - these are not US internal politics, it influences other countries in a massive way.
Ok… so why do they still travel to the us? Do they know how bad things are but are just stupid?
I would guess we as outsiders think it’s worse than it is, hearing only the bad stuff. We’re not hearing about great new sales at bed bath and beyond or whatever, we’re only hearing about the heavy handed deportations and human rights violations. Which is obviously bad but its easy to confuse “probably not as bad as it sounds” with “probably not actually that bad”.
I don’t think I’m communicating the point i was trying to make very well but whatever
I think you’re saying that we/I in the USA still see/have the trappings of normalcy: ads for BB&B, our Amazon packages are still delivered, we still have our treats.
Y’all outside of the USA don’t care about our treats. Y’all’s news is showing all the human rights erosions and ignoring that I got new prescription glasses by mail just 2 business days after ordering them (what a successful and stable country this must be/s!).
(sidenote, maybe prescription glasses aren’t treats, but I’m very excited because my prescription has changed and maybe I will stop with these eye strain headaches)
I assure you, most don’t. Message boards don’t contain mist people
tariffs hasnt hit the shelves yet for most people, so they are still ignorant to the situation. also they dont think rfk jrs, autism database will affect them yet.
I wouldn’t go to USA even if you pay me. To be “mistakenly” deported to El Salvador and then they fucking “don’t know” how to get you out. Fuck no.
I used to say this about 3rd world countries to avoid them, now USA is on that list. Imagine USA being that bad. Well, it is that bad now. When it was under Biden, I wouldn’t even think about it. With this orange baboon, no fucking chance you see me go to USA.
Even before, having to be treated like cattle in their border checks for hours? No thank you.
Read the article - they clearly don’t read the news, and had no idea that other Germans had already been detained.
like didn’t Germany issue a travel warning?
It was explicitly not a travel warning (“don’t go there”) but a note to be aware that an ESTA does not guarantee entry to the US. Because our authorities are lame and still want to avoid looking like they’re somehow opposed to anything the US does.
That’s actually both lame and stupid considering that getting detained by ICE is almost a guarantee
Almost all Germans entering the US are detained by ICE? They must have a lot of agents on standby for every Lufthansa flight.
Yeeees but the US is, of course, a VALUED and RELIABLE partner and has been for decades and we, the new German government, look forward to an increasedly productive collaboration with the new Trump government regarding global matters etc. pp. bl. er. gh. 🤮
They might have booked the trip before it was clear it was going to be so bad, and I doubt you can get your money back on a ticket for something like that. They probably rolled the dice and hoped for the best. It’s always been a roulette of whether you’d get a ‘good’ border patrol agent or some guy with a chip on his shoulder. It’s just that the latter feels more empowered now and there’s nobody keeping them in check.
People travel to China because there is nice stuff to see and great food to try. While US doesn’t have the great food they have the nice stuff to see and are still way better than China.
and are still way better than China
Oh man, I have news for you. As a UK/Australian citizen I would genuinely feel much more at ease travelling to China tomorrow than the US.
That is not a recent change either.
The US has a very scary reputation worldwide for its psychotic police force and guns everywhere.
I have been to China before, just as a no-fuss tourist. I detected no edge, and had a fun time.
While US doesn’t have the great food
That’s just ignorant. There’s plenty of absolutely fantastic food in the U.S.
I have no idea why anyone would visit us now, but if you manage to get past the fascist scum, there are plenty of amazing places to eat.
They were also going to Hawaii specifically. Now I’m German and have never set foot in any US state but I’d imagine Hawaii as a tropical island group would have its own local cuisine that can’t be half-bad (if you ignore the lack of beer), right?
Pork and pineapple
Exaaactly, Toast Hawaii is a staple of any good German Hausfrau. We love that shit.
As a resident of Hawaii, I have no idea what Toast Hawaii is.
Whaaaat you’re telling me toast with a slice of ham, a slice of pineapple and a slice of melted cheese on top ISN’T a centuries old traditional Hawaiian meal? The GIs have misled us!
It even has an English language entry in Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toast_Hawaii
(I am being very unserious :))
It being based on Spam is pretty accurate to the name. We love spam and use it all over the place. One of the most iconic local snacks is the spam musubi.
This masterpiece will confirm to anyone outside of Germany that they’re not joking: Alexander Marcus - Hawaii Toast Song
You forgot the Spam.
Loosely covered under “pork?”
Ngl right now id rather travel to China. If I dont do anything particularly dumb it looks good for them right now to have normal tourism working, particularly when the US is being this shit.
I’d visit China before I visited the US right now.
