• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Young tourists deported from US after not planning their trip well enough

Home> News> US News

Updated 08:48 21 Apr 2025 GMT+1Published 08:30 21 Apr 2025 GMT+1

Young tourists deported from US after not planning their trip well enough

Tourists are seemingly facing a crackdown at the US border

Brenna Cooper

Brenna Cooper

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.

Advert

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.

Charlotte Pohl and Maria Lepère were on a backpacking holiday (Reddit)
Charlotte Pohl and Maria Lepère were on a backpacking holiday (Reddit)

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.

Advert

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'.

Two German friends were detained after arriving in Honolulu, Hawaii (Getty Stock Images)
Two German friends were detained after arriving in Honolulu, Hawaii (Getty Stock Images)

Advert

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.

Advert

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.

Featured Image Credit: Reddit

Topics: US News, World News

Brenna Cooper
Brenna Cooper

Brenna Cooper is a journalist at LADbible. She graduated from the University of Sheffield with a degree in History, followed by an NCTJ accredited masters in Journalism. She began her career as a freelance writer for Digital Spy, where she wrote about all things TV, film and showbiz. Her favourite topics to cover are music, travel and any bizarre pop culture.

X

@_brencoco

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • US Air Force shares truth behind 'highly unusual' flight from Donald Trump's 'doomsday plane'
  • Donald Trump issues update on ‘monumental damage’ done to nuclear sites in Iran after US bombing
  • Satellite images show impact site of US bombs on Iranian nuclear facilities
  • How Iran could respond to US bomb strikes that would affect the entire world

Choose your content:

6 mins ago
an hour ago
  • 6 mins ago

    Jurgen Klopp releases emotional tribute to Diogo Jota after footballer's tragic passing

    He managed Jota at Liverpool for several years

    News

    breaking

  • an hour ago

    Diogo Jota died 'driving to get ferry back to UK' at time of Lamborghini crash

    The Liverpool and Portugal forward tragically passed away this morning

    News
  • an hour ago

    Horrifying leaked audio reveals moment Russia allegedly shot down passenger plane, killing 38 people

    Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 crashed in Kazakhstan on 25 December 2024

    News
  • an hour ago

    NASA confirms new existence of interstellar object zooming through our solar system

    It came from outer space...

    News