Teenage German tourists deported from Hawaii over ‘suspicious’ hotel booking
‘We had already noticed a little bit of what was going on in the U.S. But at the time, we didn't think it was happening to Germans,’ Maria Lepère says
They did not send them to El Salvador btw, they're back in Germany now.
But the description of how they were treated is still harrowing:
Pohl and Lepère were interrogated in Honolulu International Airport for hours and allegedly subjected to body scans and strip searches before, finally, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents denied them entry to the country and said they would be deported, according to the outlet.
Officials became suspicious of potential illegal work intentions after learning the teens had not booked accommodation for their entire five-week stay in Hawaii
So everytime I travel I'm a potential terrorist? That's what (many) backpackers do you dumbasses.
The women said they were placed in a holding cell beside some other detainees who were accused of serious crimes. The teens alleged they spent the night on moldy mattresses in a freezing double cell.
On March 19, the young travelers were allegedly taken back to Honolulu International Airport in handcuffs, where they requested to be sent to Tokyo, Japan.
Now imagine how much worse it is for all those so-called "illegals", and still how much worse when they get to El Salvador.
It's not entirely unwarranted, they WERE planning to work on a tourist-visa, which specifically and clearly not allowed in pretty much any country.
The horrible treatment is, of course, completely unwarranted, but denying entry isn't.
It’s not entirely unwarranted, they WERE planning to work on a tourist-visa
[citation needed]
They said they wanted to travel spontaneously. That is, they had their first hotel booked, then would've booked another hotel, or left the states early.
Maybe Americans just don't understand travel that's not an organised five-day trip.
Where did you get that information? Because all it said in the article was:
Officials became suspicious of potential illegal work intentions after learning the teens had not booked accommodation for their entire five-week stay in Hawaii,
How not booking hotels for their entire trip equates to "potential work intentions" escapes me. If you were planning on working for five weeks, wouldn't you book a hotel near where you were planning to work? Was there a job lined up? Are we supposed to believe that in the middle of a round-the-world graduation trip, these girls wanted to spend 5 weeks working?
Alternate explanations:
Frankly, the real story is probably a combination of all three.
Yeah, with you on this. I know in the past these arrangements have been very lenient but the recent political developments just show this isn't the case anymore. It is very silly right now to admit you wanted to work on a tourist visa.
About having no bookings yet, that part was always sketchy. I went 15 years ago to the US for a 4 week trip and had only lined up the first hostel for a few days, the rest I had not planned yet, luckily got no questions but worried about it back then already.. Guess this is a thing of the past now.
The treatment however is definitely over the line.
Everyone who is going to USA for vacation is an idiot.
My friends are going there in June. They had booked the trip before Trump was even elected They have little kids and look as Aryan as it gets so they should be fine. But honestly in their place I would still seriously consider cancelling.
In german media (Rostock newspaper) the girls said that (they planning to work) was put into the documents without their knowledge.
So. Fucking. What? This world is retarded and you're definitely doing your part.
But at the time, we didn't think it was happening to Germans
Then you didn't pay attention, cause it happened to other Germans already.
And the Auswärtige Amt (German Foreign Office) has updated their travel advisory for the US with new warnings.
They found it suspicious that we hadn't fully booked our accommodations for the entire five weeks in Hawaii
Fuckin seriously? We all know what backpacking is. I've never pre-booked an entire stay when traveling internationally except when it's for work.
Yeah wtf... I even traveled to countries where I had no place for the night, but knew I would get one spontaneously. Not great in certain countries, and you gotta know that, but 5 weeks?
Not that this justifies the response of the US, but the phrasing is ambiguous. Wonder if they mean this in the sense of, they had booked accommodations for some but not the entire of their trip, or if they mean, they had booked none at all so their entire trip was open.
Backpackers commonly book no accommodations ahead of time. I've done that plenty.
Arrive at airport. Get cab. Drive to hotel number 1 and ask about room. Drive or walk to hotel 2 and ask about room. Repeat as often as desired. Return to hotel with best deal.
I can't count how many times I've done this, having zero specific plans about where I am going to stay. Sometimes I just take the first hotel and then on the next day go look for something better. This is totally normal backpacker behavior.
I look forward to Hawaii's tourism economy being destroyed by fear of being deported
‘We had already noticed a little bit of what was going on in the U.S. But at the time, we didn't think it was happening to Germans,’ Maria Lepère says
Welcome to the real world. Pity they had to find out this way, but maybe it'll rattle them enough to !boycottus@lemmy.ca and !buyeuropean@feddit.uk
At least they learnt to not sign some shit the immigration officer wrote down on a whim. I guess everyone needs to learn that immigration officers can be hostile.
Hostile immigration offices remind me a hack from long ago dubbed "Chinga la migra". I think that was when 4chan hacked ICE.
‘We had already noticed a little bit of what was going on in the U.S. But at the time, we didn't think it was happening to Germans,’ Maria Lepère says
Maria Lepère is either a certified idiot or lives behind the moon and/or in TikTok.
TBF, that's normal. People tend to consume social media in their own language and don't get the full brunt of what's going on in the US. People want to stick to the idea that the world is just as normal as it was 10 years ago.
Well, thankfully I'm not normal.
Also, I have partial understanding for these backpackers. They were already traveling around the world, and my experience is that you consume less news or social media while traveling. Much less.
My experience is that travelling around the world is basically a full-time-job where you spend at least 2 hours every day gathering up-to-date info about your upcoming itinerary.
But maybe I'm weird that way. When I'm travelling with others, I usually slide into the role of travel guide automatically.
You'll still read enough about Trump and the US, even if you read in your native language. I see enough news about Trump every day, no matter what platform. The lady is just super naive and thought: nothing will happen?
I had a discussion a little while ago on Lemmy about someone saying “why should I care about US politics”. Well, add this to the reasons why.
She's just a kid who recently finished school. But I hope she learned an important life lesson there.
One bonus - they won't be spending any more money in the US.
I don't know who needs to hear this but -- DON'T COME HERE. The only thing these morons will listen to is money.
Please collapse the tourism industry.
Travel to the USA is a risk sport like running in front of a bull in Pamplona streets
With the World Cup a year away…
USA has never been welcoming at immigration
My mother got questioned when she was in her 70s And got followed to the baggage area.. she was travelling with airline cabin crew and didn’t know the hotel, they didn’t believe her
"These travelers were denied entry after attempting to enter the U.S. under false pretenses. One used a Visitor visa, the other the Visa Waiver Program," CBP Assistant Commissioner Hilton Beckham said in a statement. "Both claimed they were touring California but later admitted they intended to work – something strictly prohibited under U.S. immigration laws for these visas."
Provided that that's true, and I'm not saying it definitely is, that would be a valid reason to deny entry.
That's not in the article and those people were in Hawaii, not in California.
Sorry that was from a different article. Same incident.
Even if they admitted that "later", when exactly? After a night in the cold cell with a choice of being detained longer or immediate deportation if they admitted that?
