Young tourists deported from US after not planning their trip well enough
Two German teenagers say they were deported from the US after being accused of not planning their trip properly.
With stunning national parks and booming metropolises such as New York and Los Angeles, visiting America has been a top travel destination for many over the years.
However, the allure of the States may be under threat due to President Donald Trump's current crackdown on immigration to the country. Travelling to the US has always included visas and being grilled at the airport, but now several tourists have found themselves detained at the border, despite having the correct documents.
Which is definitely not the way you want to be starting your holiday.
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The latest tourist horror story to come out of Trump's America is from German friends Charlotte Pohl, 19, and Maria Lepere, 18, who claimed they were detained after landing in Hawaii from New Zealand.
According to German outlet Ostee-Zeitung (via MailOnline), the teenagers had arrived in Honolulu with plans to explore the Pacific islands before moving on to California and Costa Rica.
It's reported that the women had both obtained the correct Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) visa before entering the country but hadn't fully booked any accommodation — which meant they were accused of intending to work illegally in the country.
"They found it suspicious that we hadn’t fully booked our accommodations for the entire five weeks in Hawaii." Pohl told the news outlet.
According to Beat of Hawaii, this is a common concern amongst border control officials screening young tourists without concrete travel plans.
For Pohl and Lepere, this meant reportedly being placed in handcuffs and taken to a detention centre, where they claim they were strip searched, had full body scans and placed in a holding cell overnight.
According to the outlet, this allegedly meant sleeping on 'mouldy' mattresses and being warned by guards not to eat 'expired' food.
The women later warned other travellers about their experience on a now-deleted thread on Reddit, calling the whole ordeal 'humiliating and scary'.
Both Pohl and Lepere were then returned to the airport and deported to Japan upon request the following morning.
The German foreign office later confirmed to Ostee-Zeitung (via The New York Post) that it was aware of Pohl and Lepere's case and had provided consular support to the women.
Current guidance from the German foreign office empathises that having a visa or ESTA does not guarantee entry to the country.
The warning came after three German nationals were denied entry and detained by US border forces in recent months.
The guidance mirrors current advice given to British travellers by the UK foreign office, after a British national was detained at a Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing centre in Washington State.
British tourist Becky Burke had been travelling around the States before being detained after having been denied entry into Canada over concerns that she would attempt to work illegally. She spent 19 days at a detention centre before returning to the UK.
LADbible Group has contacted Honolulu International Airport and the US Customs and Border Control for comment.
Topics: US News, World News
Brenna Cooper