https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/world-news/man-refused-entry-us-border-31925059

A 21-year-old Norwegian tourist claims he was denied entry to the United States and harassed by ICE agents after they discovered a JD Vance meme on his phone.

Mads Mikkelsen arrived at New Jersey's Newark Airport on June 11 when he was pulled aside by border control and placed in a cell, he told Norwegian outlet Nordlys. Mads was travelling to the States to visit friends, first in New York and then in Austin, Texas, but suffered "harassment and abuse of power" at the hands of US immigration authorities.

"I felt prejudiced, suspected and simply humiliated even then, in front of many other people at the airport," The Tromsø native recounted. "They took me to a room with several armed guards, where I had to hand over my shoes, mobile phone and backpack."

Officers quizzed Mads about his visit, and his plans, before adopting a personal line of questioning. "They asked direct questions about drug smuggling, terrorist plans and right-wing extremism, completely without reason," he claimed.

"They demanded full information about everyone I was going to meet in the US, including name, address, phone number and what they did for work." Mads' mother was due to meet up with him a few weeks into his stay and the pair had planned to travel to several national parks.

"I had travelled for twelve hours, slept poorly, and was physically and mentally completely exhausted even before they started the questioning," he continued. A strenuous crackdown by U.S. Customs and Border Protection has followed President Donald Trump's return to office, with the service being allowed to search phones.

A French scientist was denied entry at the border earlier this year, in March, after officers unearthed messages criticising Trump on his phone. Mikkelsen explained: "They threatened me with a minimum fine of $5,000 or five years in prison if I refused to provide the password to my phone."

After handing over his password, Mads was told he would not be allowed to go through with his planned vacation after two images were not to the officers' liking. One image was of a meme showcasing JD Vance with a bald, egg-shaped head. Variations of the image were shared endlessly in March on social media, with the Vice President himself posting his own version.

The other picture showed Mads with a wooden pipe which he had made years prior. "Both pictures had been automatically saved to my camera roll from a chat app, but I really didn't think that these innocent pictures would put a stop to my entry into the country," the 21-year-old admitted.

Mads told Nordlys he tried to explain the images as being harmless and meant as jokes but the immigration authorities ignored his pleas. He claims he was then strip-searched, forced to give blood samples, a facial scan and fingerprints.

"Later I was taken back in, and the situation got even worse. I was pushed up against a wall and was strip-searched with a lot of force. They were incredibly harsh and used physical force the whole time," he claimed.

"I felt completely devastated and broke down, and was close to crying several times. I was on the verge of panic. It felt like I was a terrorist suspect where I was sitting. I tried to pull myself together several times, but in the end, I just wanted to get home again."

The Norwegian adds he was placed in a cell for a further five hours, refused food or water and placed on a plane back to Oslo the same day he arrived for the holiday of a lifetime. "I don't feel there is any point in contacting the State Department, nor do I think they have any power against such a powerful and strict country as the United States," Mads conceded.

Mathias Rongved, a spokesperson at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has warned fellow Norwegians that it is their duty to be clued up on US regulations before entering the country. "Most trips to the US go without any particular problems," he said.

"Entry regulations can change at short notice, and it is the traveller's responsibility to have valid documents and be familiar with the current entry regulations. It is the immigration authorities upon arrival who decide whether you are rejected at the border. Norwegian authorities cannot intervene in this decision.

"It is also not necessarily the case that we receive a message either from other countries' border authorities or the Norwegian traveller if the person in question is not allowed to enter a country."

>>1415676
>it is the traveller's responsibility to have valid documents and be familiar with the current entry regulations
Should've known critique or mockery of the regime is forbidden I guess.

In an unusual incident at a Miami International Airport, authorities stopped a man attempting to smuggle a highly detailed, muscular sex toy bearing Donald Trump's face through security. The man, whose identity has not been released, told security personnel that he had spent hundreds of hours tickling the toy’s silicone feet, which he described as “sensitive and well-worn.” A security report noted that the soles of the doll’s feet appeared rough and abraded, with the man commenting, “At first I was angry that it was breaking down so fast, but the new texture turned out to be very, very nice.” Investigations are ongoing to determine whether the device was for personal use or part of an elaborate prank.

>>1415673 (OP)
>A 21-year-old Norwegian tourist claims he was denied entry to the United States and harassed by ICE agents after they discovered a JD Vance meme on his phone.
According to the article he was targeted before they ever looked at his phone. They didn't access his phone until after detention and questioning.
Sounds like he was on an extremist watchlist.

>>1415681
For what? Posting JD Vance edits?

>>1415682
Best & brightest getting turned away at the border by the worst & dullest. Psychological tests for cops root out those that are too smart or too stupid. The stupid ones go on to border patrol. The Smart ones start pyramid schemes

This guy isn't totally innocent, he has this youtube channel, the channel isn't that bad, but God knows what he had on his phone...

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC68cjx7WTYtXGhC3rLD3N4A?app=desktop

>>1415694
I'm not even a /k/ommando but that channel seems pretty tame.

>>1415694
>Literally just a gun nut
>Only thing on his phone was a fucking meme of JD Vance
This should alarm right wingers more than anything.

>>1415682
Probably shares a name with someone. The no-fly list is similarly retarded, anyone whose name is the same as someone who gets put on the list is subject to at least heavy scrutiny, if not also barred from flying.

>>1415699
>Probably shares a name with someone.
>Mads Mikkelsen
Knowing Trump he probably asked for Hannibal to be put on the no fly list or some shit.

>>1415697
>This should alarm right wingers more than anything.
Why? Right wingers are incapable of criticizing this administration and don't actually believe the other side would ever abuse governmental power against them because they know who is corrupt and who isn't.

>>1415702
Thomas Massie would disagree. There are always outliers. Dems have blue dogs like Joe Manchin was, and the GOP has Massie, Murkowski, and Rand Paul.

>>1415703
>Thomas Massie would disagree.
If Trump illegally ran for a third term under some nonsense legal theory, Massie would endorse. No meaningful challenger to Trump is still in office at the national level. No matter what differences Republicans have with the Trump administration at the national level, Trump's face comes first.

And if you disagree, you're delusional.

>>1415715
The Republican party has become a cult of personality for one man, yes.

>>1415716
>cult of personality
Pretty sure it is okay to just call it a cult cult post COVID.

>>1415673 (OP)
im supposed to travel to US in september, i dont really have any memes on my phone but i have an instagram where i occasionally post some pretty spicy shit, am i fucked?

>>1415718
i'd just stick to the caribbean if i were you

>>1415718
This news story is a total lie. He was denied entry for a past drug conviction.

>>1415722
It's so obvious by reading the article, but the braindead left loves their angerporn
>Officers quizzed Mads about his visit, and his plans, before adopting a personal line of questioning. "They asked direct questions about drug smuggling, terrorist plans and right-wing extremism, completely without reason," he claimed.

>"They demanded full information about everyone I was going to meet in the US, including name, address, phone number and what they did for work." Mads' mother was due to meet up with him a few weeks into his stay and the pair had planned to travel to several national parks....
...and then they look at his phone, and in his own words, "he would not be allowed to go through with his planned vacation after two images were not to the officers' liking."
lmfao as if.

>>1415718
Don’t. It’s not safe. Find a way out of it.

>>1415722
I can't find a single source saying this.

>>1415728
nta but:
>He claims officers accused him of being involved in "drug trafficking, terrorist plots, and right-wing extremism," which he said were baseless.
The phone search came last by his own account.
He was obviously on some sort of watch list for them to have done that. For what, who knows, but if the guy is telling the truth about what he was questioned about, it sounds like they suspected him of drug trafficking or extremism

>>1415730
That’s not evidence of a past drug conviction.

>>1415731
>That’s not evidence of a past drug conviction.
It isn't, not to a rational person.
To a retarded MAGA shill, a foreigner being questioned by authorities about being a drug trafficker is all the confirmation they need that they're a drug trafficker.
See Kilmar Ábrego García

>>1415731
I never said it was. I'm making the point here that they obviously weren't going after a meme
>>1415732
Shut up retard

>>1415730
>>1415733
Except this also means their original claims are completely baseless as originally stated. They accused him of this with 0 evidence.

>>1415749
>Except this also means their original claims are completely baseless as originally stated
>baseless
Do please try to keep up.
They aren't baseless claims as the guys own admission he said they were interrogating him for drug trafficking amongst other things.
But, it doesn't prove that's exactly why they wanted him, only that they questioned him about it.
Please learn the difference here. You obviously don't understand what these words mean and should educate yourself.

>>1415749
Yeah there's no evidence the guy had a past drug conviction. Only evidence that he may have been suspected of drug trafficking based on the line of questioning he said he submitted to

>>1415754
>They aren't baseless claims as the guys own admission he said they were interrogating him for drug trafficking amongst other things.
But there is literally nothing to suggest a basis, you appeal to authority retard. The only suggestion of a basis is that they questioned him in the first place, not any actual incidents.

>>1415757
I changed my post. I didn't realize the other person claimed he had a previous arrest for drug trafficking.
I had thought he said that the guy was being investigated for drug trafficking, which is prima fascie a true statement, but I see that's not what he said

>>1415673 (OP)
I gotta wonder by the end of the summer just how much damage Trump and pals will have done to the tourism industry. Foreigners are becoming actively afraid of coming to the US due to ICE's shenanigans and Trump's threats.

>>1415728
he lied on his ESTA application about not having used drugs before, i did that application myself a few weeks ago and it was one of the questions
https://x.com/CBP/status/1937651325354795444

Boy oh boy, I sure do love how our tourism industry is going to be decimated by this insane administration.

>>1415760
>Yeah guys let's believe the unbacked word from an admin that has a history of lying to justify their actions

>>1415762
>going to be decimated
You mean already has been
https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/us-travel-sector-plunges-into-urgent-turmoil-as-sharp-fall-in-overseas-visitors-sparks-over-twenty-billion-usd-export-crash-this-year/

>>1415673 (OP)
A drug-using leftist was mildly inconvenienced at customs. What a tragedy.

>>1415760
>>1415763
Imagine the smell of the Stephen Miller disciple running that xitter account.

>>1415765
That isn't what happened though

>>1415763
>I don't trust the government I trust legacy media instead
This post brought to you by Pfizer.

>>1415769
What's wrong with Pfizer again?

>>1415770
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAkQlZgnbUQ
Legacy media was responsible for shilling the vaccine, telling the public they had to take the vax or they were killing grandma. But when teenagers started dying and women started miscarrying en masse they stopped talking about it.
If your first reaction is to disbelieve the gov but then go on to eat up the slop they show you in the news, you're kinda retarded.
Ever notice how everybody in western media is now pronouncing Qatar as Cutter after the Israeli bombing? Same shit different day.

>>1415771
>>>/x/

>>1415772
Yeah fuck me for suggesting that legacy media is a propaganda rag I guess
Let's go back to watching Holden McBloodfeast on CNN tell me why Iran totally has nukes

>>1415773
>purposely goes to the mainstream media board
>shits all over mainstream media
Why are you like this?

>>1415773
Let me guess, you get news from xitter and youtube videos.

>>1415719
why the caribbean specifically?

>>1415679
But did you say thank you though?

>>1415697
so you should be praising ice then no?
>>1415702
you've been abusing it for the last decade retard if it wasn't for human scum like you trump wouldn't of had such an easy win into the whitehouse.

>>1415996
esl

>>1415673 (OP)
memes are dangerous

>>1415673 (OP)
>shit on a country
>why are you stopping me from coming in
tourists and grants are the most entitled pieces of shit in the world