German teenagers were denied entry to the US, jailed, strip-searched, and deported after admitting to the high crime of doing remote work while backpacking. This story presents an important reminder for foreign travelers to the USA and will, unfortunately, likely cause a further chilling effect on travel to the United States.

German Teenagers Who Wanted To Backpack Across US Denied Entry At Hawaii Border After Admitting To Remote Work, Then Jailed And Strip-Searched

Let’s first look at their story, shared in the German press and later in Hawaiian media and eventually on reddit, where it went viral and was then deleted.

“Please be careful – we were deported from the U.S. for just wanting to backpack”

“I want to share what happened to me and my best friend last month when we tried to begin our backpacking trip in the U.S. Maybe it helps someone avoid the same nightmare.

“We are 19 and 18 years old, from Europe, and we arrived in Honolulu from New Zealand, with the plan to explore the islands first, and then fly to the mainland after to explore California. We had booked only the first 2 nights in an Airbnb, just to be flexible with our plans – like we did in New Zealand, and like many backpackers do. We had the onward ticket to the next destination in Asia but didn’t book domestic flights in the U.S. for the same reason.

“At passport control they took us aside for ‘additional questions.’ At first we didn’t think it was such a big thing, but then it became very intense. They were asking us why we didn’t book more nights or domestic flights, what our plans were, how we can afford to travel, and especially about work. We do sometimes small freelance jobs online (like translating or design stuff, for customers back in Germany and sometimes also Asia, not the U.S.), and we mentioned that – which was maybe the biggest mistake. It was also in the e-mails that they accessed.

“After a while they told us we are not allowed to enter the U.S., that we are ‘inadmissible.’ They said we were trying to work illegally, which we didn’t. We had onwards tickets and just wanted to travel.

“But they didn’t care. They took our phones, our passports, and put us in handcuffs – that moment was surreal. Like, you’re a tourist and now you’re treated like criminal. They wanted to send us back to Auckland on the next flight, but we asked to rebook our onwards tickets for the day after, so we could continue with our travels. They agreed but said that we will be detained for the night. We agreed, having no idea what to expect, thinking that we would maybe wait in the same room that they interviewed us. But no.

“They drove us to the detention center in Honolulu. I think it was called FDC prison, close to the airport. It was a real jail. Metal doors, locked cells, cold air. And they made us do a full strip search. It was really cold. We had to undress completely, including bra and underwear, and even had to squat and spread… I don’t want to describe it in too much detail, but it was humiliating and scary. We were alone with a female officer, but still… you don’t expect that as a tourist.

“After that they gave us green prison clothes and put us in a cell overnight with two other women – who were actually bragging to us about their cartel connections and implying that they were serious criminals. It felt like a movie, but not a nice one. Of course we didn’t not sleep even for a minute. I’m not picky, but the food was another horror story.

“The next day they stripped us down again, we changed back into our clothes, and they took us straight to our plane – two officers returned our passports and escorted us to our seats as the door was about to close. Just like that. They also told us that if we want to come to the U.S. again, we cannot use a visa free system anymore.

“So yeah… please be very careful if you plan to backpack in the U.S. Book all your accommodation in advance (even if you plan to change later). There are many fully refundable options – and we thought about it, but decided that it wouldn’t be necessary. And don’t mention any remote work or freelancing and make sure to log out of any e-mails that could be used as evidence of it. And know that if something goes wrong, it’s not just ‘denied entry’ – it’s jail, strip search, and total loss of control.

“We are still totally shaken from it and feel like we did something wrong, even if we didn’t mean to. Just wanted to share, because I would have never imagined this could happen. My feeling is that backpacking culture isn’t understood or accepted at U.S. borders right now. Be careful!”

That’s quite a harrowing account…

Doing Gig Work In The USA While Visiting On ESTA

I’m not going to get bogged down by an extended discussion of letter versus the spirit of the law: the USA is not alone in prohibiting freelance and remote work, when traveling on a tourist ESTA (visa waiver), though this (reasonably) comes as a surprise to many (myself included). I think it’s beyond absurd that teenagers cannot work on their computers while on vacation…but whether you are a foreigner working for “foreign” clients is irrelevant…it’s just not explicitly allowed per the immigration rules, as written–and that precedes the Trump Administration.

The lack of booked accommodations or domestic flights was not the problem itself, but that certainly contributed to the problem…it led to questions, which led to more questions, which exposed how the teenage girls were able to fund their travels.

It’s a sad day when anyone (though especially teenage backpackers) are turned away for doing online translation work and it’s not the kind of immigration policy I support…especially when it appears this was an honest mistake.

Generally, business ESTAs are for those attending meetings, conferences, or engaging in short-term training, while tourist ESTAs are for leisure, vacation, or visiting friends and family.

Per the US State Department, examples of “temporary business” include:

• Attending business meetings or consultations
• Attending a business convention or conference
• Negotiating contracts

That wasn’t the nature of their “work” in the USA.

But here is what is explicitly prohibited under ESTA travel:

• study, for credit
• employment
• work as foreign press, radio, film, journalists, or other information media
• permanent residence in the United States

Freelance workers are not employees…no one in the US or even outside was employing these girls in the technical sense.

“Gig” work falls into a gray area, but certainly can become problematic, as these girls found out. That’s scare for me, because if other countries started doing the same thing, my review trips for the blog would require special work visas…

It Gets So Much Worse…

I think reasonable minds can disagree as to whether those girls should have been denied entry into the USA.

Where I hope there would be universal agreement is about how poorly they were treated once it was determined they would be denied entry into the USA and deported.

Handuffed? Forced to take all their clothes off, including underwear? Thrown into a prison cell with real criminals?

How absolutely disgusting.

And yet not a surprise. My wife had to undergo the same degrading strip search when she applied for a green card ot the USA. During the last administration, we were hassled by a disgusting agent at Amsterdam Schipol Airport who was not “just doing her job”…she was harassing legal residents of the USA for chuckles.

Overreaction is hardly unique and yet no less sad here.

CONCLUSION

This is such a horrific story putting the spotlight on how cruel America has become…and as my own wife can attest, this preceded the current administration. Their denial may have been technically correct, based on a strict interpretation of immigration and visa laws. But was the rest of their treatment appropriate? NO WAY. They posed no threat to the safety and security of the United States and were treated like MS-13 gang members.

Anyway you slice it, the idea that these teenage German backpackers should have been handcuffed, strip-searched, and jailed is indefensible. I wonder how Americans would tolerate it if German border agents started treating Americans in the same horrible fashion?

Thanks to Antwerp for flagging this story.