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.”
They’re lucky they were sent home instead of to an El Salvador concentration camp.
They were the right color of skin.
It likely saved them, but being white still doesn’t guarantee your safety from the US gulags.
are you implying that fascists might not be reliable?
I’ve been seeing a lot of reports lately of white people getting screwed over like this. They all had one thing in common: women traveling without male company.
Both say they were handcuffed and sent to a detention center, which they claimed was more like a prison.
“We were searched with metal detectors, our entire bodies were scanned, and we had to stand naked in front of the police officers and were looked through,” Pohl said. “Then we were given green prison clothes and put in a prison cell with serious criminals.”
Among them was someone who had spent 18 years behind bars for murder, the women said, and they were left sleeping in a double cell with tiny barred windows and metal bunks with moldy mattresses.
I really want to know what changed that made the above happen much more often.
In December, if Customs had concerns about two teenagers trying to sneak into the US to work on a travel visa, where did they go? How was it handled? Because it feels like overkill and probably much more expensive than what we used to do.
Why are we sending backpacking teenagers with visa concerns to the same place as a murderer?
Why are they being strip searched like they were drug smugglers?
But the women — who were planning to continue on to Los Angeles and then Costa Rica after Hawaii — insisted they were interrogated by CBP for hours, and that transcripts show their words were “twisted” and outright falsified.
“They contained sentences we didn’t actually say,” Pohl said of interrogation transcripts they were sent home with.
“They twisted it to make it seem as if we admitted that we wanted to work illegally in the US,” she told the German outlet Ostee Zeitung.
And then this feels like the after-the-fact coverup. Whatever they held them on was super flimsy, so they tried to make it sound worse when they realized this was going to hit the news.
The news decided to pay attention, that’s what changed, not the reality.
I mean yeah for non-white people maybe. But teenage German girls, that’s a novum
I’m not American, so, it’s easy for me to call horseshit on that one.
Per that last bit, I’m guessing they never had a lawyer present. Would make any of those fabricated statements null and void, if the constitution meant anything.
This is pretty standard treatment. There are only a limited number of holding cells in an airport, moslty for men.
If there is no returning flight that day they are sent to a local jail (known as a remand centre outside of the US) and stripping and searching is standard at those places.
The women said that they were going to do work in the US.
The women said “They twisted it to make it seem as if we admitted that we wanted to work illegally in the US.”
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?
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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. 🤮
Almost all Germans entering the US are detained by ICE? They must have a lot of agents on standby for every Lufthansa flight.
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.
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.
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.
This masterpiece will confirm to anyone outside of Germany that they’re not joking: Alexander Marcus - Hawaii Toast Song
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 :))
You forgot the Spam.
Loosely covered under “pork?”
I’d visit China before I visited the US right now.
Look at those evil immigrants. No doubt they’ll… they’ll… hold on, can we use some AI to replace the stock photo with brown people? Thank you.
I know every country has its problems and that there are desperate people everywhere.
but its very much american exceptionalism, that americans would assume people coming from a country that has infinitely more worker rights, would move to their failing state just to work.
If the US stop bombing and middling in South America, and countries in the middle east, most of these people will voluntary go back or never try to get into the states in the first place.
not the only ones spreading death and displacement,
Russia, Turkey, Israel, and Saudi Arabia to name a few of the worst offenders
When the world thinks “illegal immigration” we all think “Germans sneaking into Hawaii”.
They finally found the culprit for the shit state of the United State: It’s all those pesky german young adults backpacking through the world and visiting Hawaii for like a few weeks or something!
This has been happening for a long time. It’s just that they are from first world country. Welcome to how it feels to be from a third world country. Not only US but I have been stopped at Munich and Frankfurt airport and thoroughly scanned and document checked while everyone just walk through security.
I’m from Canada and had to explain to border officers what my accommodations and means of personal support would be for a two week stay in the US. I was almost denied entry because I wasn’t carrying sufficient cash on hand.
That was almost twenty years ago.
You’re saying you’ve been arrested, handcuffed, strip searched, sent to jail and then deported – and that’s been happening for a long time?
The people just walking were checked at departure and are local citizens.
I don’t know the full context of your situation, but sometimes it’s easy to fall into the mindset of always feeling like a victim. I’ve seen people of all backgrounds get scanned or checked at airports. Have you considered if there might have been a specific reason you were stopped?
Personally, I’ve been stopped several times too, and in some cases, I later realized it was due to something simple, like forgetting to take keys out of my pockets, which triggered the sensors.
I just wrapped up my 46th country. Happened to me everytime and to most of the people coming from SEA and northern Africa.
I think you are really exaggerating there. It doesn’t happen for all people coming from SEA or northern Africa. You don’t see all the people from SEA or north Africa being pulled and scanned every time.
I don’t know for the US but clearly not in Europe. You really need to think about why you always getting scanned.
I have read somewhere that someone is always scanned at the airport because they were in the S database of France.
Very very normal for anyone flying to first world country from a third world country and you are person of color. I recommend u go see the pyramid, fly back on Egypt air to Frankfurt. You will see in person.
You’re comparing between different sample pools, which matters when we’re talking about probability adjacent stuff. We’re not asking “from this large pool of people at an airport, who is likely to receive additional scrutiny?” Because of this, your comment about how you’ve seen people of all backgrounds get scanned isn’t relevant to OP’s point.
The scope we’re looking at is the pool of experiences across one person’s trips. Imagine if it was every time that you got stopped for additional checks at an airport, even when you couldn’t see any mistakes that you had made. If you get checked because your keys triggered the sensors, then that’s a mistake that you can learn from, but consider how it would feel if you meticulously complied with everything you were meant to do, but were still consistently pulled aside for additional checks.
I know that on the internet, you never know whether someone is being hyperbolic, or straight up spinning a yarn, but try to take OP on faith here and consider how dismissive your comment comes across. I don’t know OP’s particular circumstances, but I have previously made a comment similar to yours to a friend, who called me out on being an asshole. Back then, I was oblivious to the reality of these things.
My friend explained that the first time they were pulled aside for additional checks, they opted to believe that it was just a random thing. The second time, they felt more uneasy, but actively resisted the “victim mentality” (their words). By the 20th time, they had come to expect it as inevitable, and that no change to how they packed, or what they wore would change things. They desperately wanted to believe that they weren’t being targeted for additional searches, but after a certain point, it becomes impossible to believe that these things are random.
Like I said, I don’t know the full context of OP’s situation—I just wanted to offer another possible explanation, which may or may not apply to them.
I’ve come across similar comments from people who are convinced they’re facing discrimination, but when you take a closer look at the facts, it’s not always so clear-cut. For example, I once saw someone say they always get rejected from jobs, often instantly, and were certain it was because of the photo on their résumé. But when you actually read their CV and look at the roles they applied for, it turned out they didn’t meet any of the listed requirements. Having two years of bootcamp experience won’t typically land you a role at a startup asking for four years in a specific tech stack.
If you always assume you’re a victim, it can prevent you from growing and might lead you to overlook areas where you could improve.
Again, I’m not denying that discrimination exists or saying OP is imagining things—I just think it’s important to consider all angles.
You don’t have any experience youngin, so don’t offer your opinion. It’s useless at best, and arrogant at worst.
How you come up with I don’t have experience? Because I just didn’t agree with what you say?
Because you didn’t offer any. You didn’t offer any cuz you don’t.
Now sit down, this isn’t debate class
Yes, exactly what I said. You are only searching for answers from people that agree with you. I gave already examples but OK continue play the victim and I am sure that you will one day find happiness.
You’re considering all angles except the one the op is telling you that they experienced.
OK lol. Stay like that.
When they denying whiter than white German kids, shit done got real.
They need to come up with enough people to deport to justify their lies about the border.
Yes, this is border agents filling their quota.
Interestingly.as far as I’m aware
GermansItalians were one of the last “ethnicities” to be considered white, alongside the Irish.Edit: Originally said Germans, left the comment because it’s more about how whiteness is more about in group acceptance than actual skin tone.
If the Germans aren’t white, what the fuck is white?!
White is whatever the rich white guys say it is. It was never about skin color for them. It is about maintaining power, wealth, control, etc. Othering is like a hack to get people to do whatever they want.
Generally it’s the people who you want to be. It’s not about “color”.
I’ve seen it described as “proximity to power”. Which is why the definition can change.
You’re thinking of Italians. While some ‘german’ ethnicities were indeed swarthy whites along side Nordic countries in the 1700s, nearly all were included in the white umbrella by the start of the 1800s. Italians, Irish, and Mediterranean whites took well into the 20th century to be white.
Ah, my bad, I’ll update.
I completely believe these women, and I am sure Border Patrol invented sentences and put them in the transcript, altering what the women said in some parts and outright making stuff up in others. People assume transcripts are correct, but any corrupt authority can alter them or attribute anything to anyone. I called the Border Patrol to find out more and they surprisingly admittted to this corruption, saying “Yep, we alter transcripts all the time in between felching each other and praising Moloch.”
Holy shit the comments on that article. I know NY Post leans right, but some of them got their noses so far up Trump’s ass they’re snorting small intestine
“We wanted to travel spontaneously.”
This is how my sister and I do our road trips. We get in the car and drive until we are tired then search for a hotel. If we find a town we like we might stop there even if the day is young.
On bike? Believe it or not, also jail.
Criminal scum
Yeah, I’ve always travelled like this. You just get a ho(s)tel for the first few nights, and then you just stay longer if you like where you are or you move on to the next place based on what locals/other travellers recommend.
lol, that’s how I did my trip to Germany. I got my first hotel for only a few days, then decided when/where to go next based on that. Rinse-Repeat for a few weeks
Why would anybody travel to that shithole country?
Because people booked last year and can’t get a refund.
Ah yeah, that’s fair.
Is losing your non-refundable booking a worse outcome than a few nights in a detention cell?
To anyone who was paying attention this was already a pretty clear possibility last year. Not to mention that all the people voting for this outcome also make it an unpleasant place to visit on a more personal level, even if the election had gone the other way.
You have to understand that there are people who have better things to do with their time than keep up with foreign politics or arrange their lives around it. You could just say nothing and not shit on people who don’t want to lose a thousand dollars because a nation decided to have shit for heads this season.
Well, then they have to face the consequences of not paying attention to the things happening in the place they intend to go to
Like, yeah, ideally you wouldn’t need to worry about this, but this is always a risk when traveling, and politics has that trait of being interested in you whether or not you are interested in it back
People who travel to shitholes like the US for several weeks at the time clearly don’t have “better things to do with their time”.
I guess they learned their lesson.
I think it is sad, I would really like to travel in the USA as I think the nature and the culture are really interesting. But for my entire adult life the USA actually would have been a gamble to travel to.
The laws around entry to the country are also really weird, as the immigration officer that checks your visa has the ultimate authority of whether you are allowed entry. There are no concrete laws that limit their say over this.
Travel advice to USA has pretty much always been to have your destination/hotel at hand for customs and your tickets for the flight back. They were also interested in how you would get to said destination, so better have a car rented in advance.
It was so silly when the immigration officer asked me (at the origin, not the destination because they want to avoid to fly you back): “And what if John won’t be there to pick you up at the airport?” Me: “I don’t know man, take an Uber?”
In addition, don’t say anything that suggests you will work, even if unpaid. Don’t mention volunteering, helping a friend, doing remote work, etc. The rules are quite specific about what visas allow and do not allow, and many border people are just there to catch a paycheck - they will absolutely err on the side of denial. It is not a fair game, and you will not be given a fair chance to explain yourself.
Turns out it never was a free country at all
Having not fully booked your accommodation for the entire trip could get you denied entry to the US before Trump. Just saying. Especially if you aren’t white. Same with not having an outbound ticket.
I’m sure it happens occasionally but I’ve never actually heard of CPB asking for hotel bookings, just outbound flight number. This is stuff you’d submit on a visa application. If the US wants to make Europeans get visa to travel then they should just do that.
They have asked for both and in one case they have asked for bank statement. This happens very often to citizens of third world country. We just knew what to carry with us all the time and no issue.
Not allowed to go camping unless you’re a citizen I guess
Likely they did not have enough fund to stay in Hawaii that long. It becomes a liability.
So we just making shit up to make it make sense now?
Well do u know the tourist and their finance to support themselves? U know they can probably go to places like Goa, Sri Lanka. Cheaper imo
With this administration, the most likely thing is another fuckup.
You just call daddy and get another thousand on your account. This is not hard.
I met a good chunk of Europeans and Aussies while thru hiking on the AT a few years ago.
All of those folks did not have full accommodations booked in advance, that would have been impossible. They seemed to find that pretty normal and were not turned away.
Where you intend to stay is part of the questioning when you enter and they can get quite suspicious if you don’t have a plan. Source: An Austrian, white friend of mine who went to the US. He also just wanted to travel around but was warned in advance (by other, mostly white europeans) that he shouldn’t state that when asked. It’s just not worth the risk.
While that’s not the same as having to show hotel bookings for the whole stay, it is a thing travelers have had to worry about for quite some time now. I’m sure it’s worse and more complicated for anyone of color.
This. It also gets you denied in Australia and other countries. This is non-news.
Source: Previously my guilty pleasure was watching Border Security Australia Not so much anymore.
Denied entry is far different than being strip searched and locked up in a jail with serious criminals.
I was responding to the original comment above : “Having not fully booked your accommodation for the entire trip could get you denied entry to the US before Trump. Just saying. Especially if you aren’t white. Same with not having an outbound ticket.”
Not to the strip searching, abuse, etc.
I agree it is absolutely heinous what is happening in the US and I wouldnt travel here either but the process of denying entry for a combination of limited/no accommodations, limited funds, varying answers, etc does lead to denial of entry in some countries.
Is it that common? How do they handle backpackers?
I’ve literally never gone on a single multi-week vacation in my entire life with fully booked accommodation for the whole thing. I book the majority of the first week and I know when I’m flying back, but in between I’m mostly guided by the wind.
I can’t book hotels in places I don’t know I’ll be going.
It’s not the only thing. It’s a combination of limited/no living accommodations and no income. If you don’t have the income to stay for 5 weeks for example, they will send you back.I’m talking like going to Australia or US with just $500 or something for 5 weeks. I can cite some episodes when I get off work today and you can see the process.
But, people haven’t been bringing money with them for decades now. They use payment cards.
But overall CBP looks at funds. If someone can’t afford their stay, they become suspicious.
EDIT: Adding, they ask how much people intend to spend or call banks to verify
I don’t think it is common. I just know it happens.
The process looks like this..
Sort of a good example because it happens to be a traveler going into the United States for vacation, 5 weeks, 1.5k cash, but still denied entry. They always ask for purpose of entry, what itinery looks like, funds, etc.
There’s tons of backpackers, as a one bagger myself, I’ve never had trouble. I think its when you may have limited/no accommodations plus other factors: stories not lining up, limited funds, no/limited knowledge of itinerary, etc. That gets people in trouble. I think most people know where they are going, what for, and how they are going to do it.
Even as a US citizen I’m happy I’m not traveling internationally for a while though. Seems most people are free game regardless to CBP, citizen or not 🤮
I doubt it’s common. I’ve traveled to Australia and the US (and a bunch of other places) with just a few nights in a hostel booked, sometimes even without a return flight. Might be different if you’ve got a middle eastern name or something like that, but pretty much every backpacker travels this way.
Imagine booking 2 years ahead when you’re on a writing holiday visa, that’s just nuts.
How do people get multi week vacations?
Double income, single household, no kids. (and even then just barely, i will add)
Or, if you’re talking time wise, live in a country that isn’t run by and for corporations and you can still enjoy some paid time off.
Just book some of your +5 weeks per year together. What, are you American or something?
You get a minimum of 24 days paid vacation in Germany. Up 28 days are common.
When I started my last job (big multinational corporation) after an internship, I got 3 weeks of paid vacation right off the bat, with 1 more week every few years, up to a maximum of 7 weeks.
Plus 1 more week if I chose to “buy” a week by estimating the vacation I would accrue throughout the remainder of the year and subtracting 1 week’s pay from that.
A few years back my 19 yo American son had a great experience working the summer as a camp counselor here in the states. It is a religious camp (not that my son is that religion) that draws in campers from the states and Europe. Many of those campers as they get older come back as counselors. They get the appropriate visas, make money working the camp for 8 weeks, then take the few weeks after camp before they have to leave and blow that money on traveling the States and their trip home. It was an incredible experience and inspired my son to bust his ass, save money, and a few years later took a self funded trip to Europe where he couch surfed these homes of the friends he made.
I think about those kids this year. There’s no way I’d risk traveling back to this shit hole country if I were them.
yeah, it is not newsworthy when CBP does their normal, admittedly rather annoying job
of locking teens in detention centers
Oh the horror! Not hard working people working for USA!
