Eight Kiwis detained at US border since November, MFAT reminds travellers of entry rules amid SafeTravel review

NZ Herald

25-04-2025

While the measures are meant to specifically target illegal immigration into the US, travellers from around the world have reportedly been detained while attempting to enter the country as tourists.
One Kiwi woman in her 40s was allegedly detained at San Francisco Airport for 15 hours and forced to buy a return ticket to New Zealand after officials took issue with the visa she'd been issued by the State Department.
Planning to visit her partner in Florida, who works on a fixed-term contract, before holidaying in Europe, the woman was allegedly questioned for five hours over her visa, Arizona-based author Wendilynn Kay alleged in a post reshared on Facebook.
'She obtained the necessary visas, could provide proof of income and proof that she was leaving,' the post alleged, describing her as someone with 'no criminal record or history of political activism'.
With officials allegedly left unsatisfied with her visa, she was made to buy an 'exceptionally expensive' ticket home and was walked to her gate in chains.
'She was humiliated and is still deeply traumatised.'
Similarly, two young German backpackers who arrived in Honolulu from New Zealand in mid-March were detained by border officials suspecting they planned to work illegally in the US.
Having only booked their first two nights in an Airbnb for flexibility, the women - aged 18 and 19 - were questioned before being held in a detention facility overnight after they were found 'inadmissible'.
'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 a criminal,' one of the travellers recently wrote on Reddit's backpacking subreddit.
'It was a real jail ... they made us do a full strip search ... I don't want to describe it in too much detail, but it was humiliating and scary.'
An MFAT spokesperson told the Herald it was 'aware of eight New Zealanders who have been detained at US borders, and one New Zealander arrested for immigration-related reasons, since 1 November 2024″.
'For privacy reasons, no further information will be provided.'
SafeTravel's US travel advice level is currently at level 2 - 'exercise increased caution' - 'due to the threat of terrorism'.
There are 85 other countries at level 2.
MFAT said it has 'long-standing advice' that travellers should check with a US embassy or consulate for how their situation may affect entry into the country, given its 'strict entry and stay rules'.
Current advice for LGBTQIA+ travellers
For LGBTQIA+ travellers, clearer information is expected from the SafeTravel review as other countries begin issuing warnings for transgender and gender-diverse citizens visiting the US.
LGBTQIA+ individuals are advised by TravelSafe to be wary of countries' laws and customs when travelling overseas.
However, there's yet to be changes to its advisory informing US-bound transgender and gender-diverse Kiwis of increased risks upon arrival at the border compared to earlier years.
On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order titled 'Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government', which proclaimed the US will only recognise two sexes.
The January 20 executive order states all government-issued identification documents must now reflect one's 'immutable biological classification as either male or female'.
'We will only issue passports with an M or F sex marker that match the customer's biological sex at birth,' the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs said on its website, suspending the issuing of those with an 'X' identifier.
New Zealand has recognised the 'X' gender identifier on passports and other official identification documents since 2009.
While the State Department has clarified that passports differing from one's assigned sex at birth 'will remain valid for travel until their expiration date', at least six European countries have updated their guidelines warning that travellers may be denied US entry if their documents don't match it.
Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Portugal have all recommended affected citizens contact a US embassy or consulate for advice.
MFAT directed the Herald to its TravelSafe page for LGBTQIA+ travellers when questioned whether there will be any US-specific information for transgender or gender-diverse travellers in its updated advisory.
This month, Auckland University told staff and students planning US travel to 'think carefully about how you might be affected prior to booking' and to contact its Risk Office for 'further guidance' in a since-deleted advisory on its website.
US trans actor Hunter Schafer, 26, slammed the Trump Administration over the identification changes in February, revealing her passport gender marker had been changed to male despite having female-marked identification documents 'coming up on a decade now'.
'This is the first time this has happened to me since I changed my gender marker... and I do believe it is a direct result of the administration our country is currently operating under,' Schafer said.