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Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
WorldPride speaker says she was denied entry to US after Cuba visit
Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, a British political and LGBTQ rights activist, said she was denied entry to the U.S. over a recent trip to Cuba. Opoku-Gyimah, also known as Lady Phyll, had been scheduled to deliver opening remarks at WorldPride's human rights conference, which runs June 4-6 in Washington. Speaking over a livestream Wednesday afternoon, Opoku-Gyimah said U.S. officials revoked her visa waiver under the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), an automated system determining whether visitors from participating countries may enter the U.S. without a visa. Travel to Cuba, which the U.S. designated a state sponsor of terrorism in 2021, is grounds for having an ESTA revoked, according to the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) website. The Caribbean nation's terror designation was briefly rescinded under former President Biden and reinstated by President Trump in January. Opoku-Gyimah said she was notified of the revocation of her travel authorization days before she was set to fly to the U.S. for WorldPride. She applied for a temporary visa, she said, but was told the earliest she could enter the country was September. 'I've called. I've written. I've pleaded,' said Opoku-Gyimah, the co-founder and CEO of UK Black Pride. 'And the answer was a cold, bureaucratic 'No.'' The DHS did not immediately return a request for comment. Opoku-Gyimah's virtual remarks Wednesday highlighted the LGBTQ community's diversity, and she encouraged WorldPride gatherers to embrace the group's intersectional identities. 'Enjoy the Pride, walk together, walk proudly and talk proudly,' she said. 'Be bold and brave in our fight for justice.' The U.K. issued a travel warning for the U.S. in March, cautioning British passport holders that 'authorities in the U.S. set and enforce entry rules strictly' and 'you may be liable to arrest or detention if you break the rules.' Other countries, including Denmark and Finland, have issued travel advisories for transgender visitors to the U.S., referencing policies instituted by the Trump administration targeting trans rights. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
13 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
WorldPride speaker says she was denied entry to US after Cuba visit
Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, a British political and LGBTQ rights activist, said she was denied entry to the U.S. over a recent trip to Cuba. Opoku-Gyimah, also known as Lady Phyll, had been scheduled to deliver opening remarks at WorldPride's human rights conference, which runs June 4-6 in Washington. Speaking over a livestream Wednesday afternoon, Opoku-Gyimah said U.S. officials revoked her visa waiver under the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), an automated system determining whether visitors from participating countries may enter the U.S. without a visa. Travel to Cuba, which the U.S. designated a state sponsor of terrorism in 2021, is grounds for having an ESTA revoked, according to the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) website. The Caribbean nation's terror designation was briefly rescinded under former President Biden and reinstated by President Trump in January. Opoku-Gyimah said she was notified of the revocation of her travel authorization days before she was set to fly to the U.S. for WorldPride. She applied for a temporary visa, she said, but was told the earliest she could enter the country was September. 'I've called. I've written. I've pleaded,' said Opoku-Gyimah, the co-founder and CEO of UK Black Pride. 'And the answer was a cold, bureaucratic 'No.'' DHS did not immediately return a request for comment. Opoku-Gyimah's virtual remarks on Wednesday highlighted the LGBTQ community's diversity, and she encouraged WorldPride gatherers to embrace the group's intersectional identities. 'Enjoy the Pride, walk together, walk proudly and talk proudly,' she said. 'Be bold and brave in our fight for justice.' The U.K. issued a travel warning for the U.S. in March, cautioning British passport holders that 'authorities in the U.S. set and enforce entry rules strictly' and 'you may be liable to arrest or detention if you break the rules.' Other countries, including Denmark and Finland, have issued travel advisories for transgender visitors to the U.S., referencing policies instituted by the Trump administration targeting trans rights.
News.com.au
4 days ago
- General
- News.com.au
Australian denied entry to US, strip searched and thrown in prison hits back at Homeland Security's reasoning
EXCLUSIVE An Australian woman who was strip searched and thrown in federal prison when denied entry to the United States to visit her American husband has hit back at Homeland Security after it aired details of her case on social media to defend its actions. Nikki Saroukos, a former NSW Police officer from southwest Sydney, told last week she was subjected to invasive searches and humiliating treatment for trying to spend time with her US military husband stationed in Hawaii. Ms Saroukos said she had successfully visited the state three times in recent months using an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) under the Visa Waiver Program, but this time turned into a nightmare. The US Department of Homeland Security later issued what it described as a 'fact check' on X after she went public with the ordeal, accusing her of having 'unusual activity on her phone, including 1000 deleted text messages from her husband'. But Ms Saroukos, who married her husband Matt in January after a whirlwind long-distance romance, said she was 'in disbelief at how ridiculous' the statement was and claimed that some of the information included had been 'twisted'. 'The reasons they came up with were not even justifiable to throw someone in prison anyway,' she told on Monday. Ms Saroukos strongly denies having any plans to live permanently in the US, and believes people are missing the point of her story, saying she was not hung up on the fact she had been denied entry to the country, but rather how she was treated. 'A country has a right to deport you if they don't want you in their country, fair enough,' she said. 'But I don't agree with the treatment … why are you throwing people in prison, why are they being subject to strip searches and cavity searches and being placed in handcuffs, like your rights taken away from you.' Homeland Security addresses the uproar Homeland Security said Ms Saroukos was selected for further screening at the airport on arrival to the US because of 'recent long-term trips' and 'suspicious luggage'. Then, 'officers determined that she was travelling for more than just tourism,' the statement said. The department went on to share details about Ms Saroukos' relationship. FACT CHECK: Nicolle Saroukos’s recent long-term trips to the United States and suspicious luggage resulted in her being reasonably selected for secondary screening by CBP. Officers determined that she was traveling for more than just tourism. She was unable to remember her… — Homeland Security (@DHSgov) May 30, 2025 'She was unable to remember her wedding date just four months prior,' it said. 'Saroukos met her now-husband during a trip on December 13, 2024, the same day her ex-partner left her. The two spent only eight days together before she returned to Australia on December 21. Saroukos then got married on January 24, 2025, after only knowing her husband for just over a month. 'During screening, CBP (Customs and Border Protection) noted there was unusual activity on her phone, including 1000 deleted text messages from her husband because she claimed they caused her 'anxiety'. 'Saroukos even claimed that her husband was going to leave the US military, despite him telling CBP he was adding her to his military documents. 'If you attempt to enter the United States under false pretenses, there are consequences.' 'Ridiculous': Nikki Saroukos hits back Ms Saroukos told that while she generally agreed with the Homeland Security timeline, it left out that she had been talking to her now-husband on a dating app for months before they met in person in December. She denied meeting him for the first time the same day she split with her ex-partner. She explained that her relationship with her ex had been complicated, and although they had split earlier that year, they went on a holiday to Hawaii together but 'stayed in separate rooms'. 'I met my husband after my ex had left the island. I relocated to a different hotel, three days after I got that new hotel I then reached out to Matthew and we tried to organise to catch up,' she said. As for not remembering her wedding date, Ms Saroukos said her mind went blank during the hours of interrogation. 'I was crying at this point. I was under immense stress,' she said. 'With the decision of them coming out and saying 'she didn't remember her (wedding) date', I'm like it's not a criminal offence to forget a date? I mean, I don't even remember people's birthdays let alone a date under that amount of stress.' Explaining the 1000 deleted text messages, Ms Saroukos said if the couple were having a disagreement, she would delete their conversation on her iPhone to stop her re-reading the messages. She claimed there was nothing officials could not recover and read from the deleted section on her phone. 'They are just saying because I deleted the text messages, it's suspicious. Again, the only thing I can come back and say with that is, it's not a bloody crime to delete text messages between you and your partner,' she said. 'It's my f***ing phone. I'm not committing an offence. They've just grabbed that and run with it and they're missing out the fact they actually read the deleted text messages and there was nothing (illegal) there.' In regards to Homeland Security claiming there were varying statements from she and her husband about their future, she claimed the long-term plan was for her husband to apply for a visa and move to Australia after leaving the military, therefore she had no intention of getting a green card as a military spouse. Ms Saroukos told that her husband had only mentioned he would start an application for a green card while she was being questioned because of the sudden difficulty she was facing travelling with an ESTA. 'If I was going to move to the US, I would have done it a long time ago. I would not be spending thousands of dollars going back and forth on plane tickets to go see my husband and I would have already started an application if that was the case,' she said. 'Not once did I ever say nor was there any plan that I was going to permanently live in the United States.' Ms Saroukos still does not know for sure why her luggage was deemed suspicious, but based on comments from officers during inspection, she suspects maybe they thought she had too much luggage but argued she was 'not bringing anything illegal into the country'. 'Never been so terrified': Strip search horror Ms Saroukos travelled to Hawaii with her mother. They were taken to a holding area at Daniel K Inouye International Airport in Honolulu where their bags and documents were inspected. Her mother was free to go after the search but Ms Saroukos was taken to a second location where she was subjected to further interrogation. There, she said she was forced to surrender her phone and passwords, and questioned about her work as a former NSW Police officer. 'They questioned me about the demographic of my suburb and what crimes I was exposed to as a police officer,' Ms Saroukos told on May 22. 'They were asking me about ice and meth and whether I knew how much was being imported from New Zealand.' She said she had 'no idea' how to answer the questions and was 'just dumbfounded'. She was also grilled me on her income, marriage and phone history. Ms Saroukos was then subjected to a DNA swab, which she was given no explanation for, she claimed. She was further forced to sign a document declaring she was not a part of a cartel and had no affiliation with gang members. In the end, Ms Saroukos was still denied entry to the US. 'I've never been so terrified in my life. I froze. They said 'We'll be sending you to jail.' I was just shaking, sweating – I couldn't believe it,' she said. Ms Saroukos said she was handcuffed, subjected to an in-depth cavity search and taken to a federal detention facility, where she was fingerprinted again, ordered to strip naked, squat and cough, and handed prison issued briefs and green outerwear. After a night in prison, she was taken back to the airport to fly home to Sydney. Ms Saroukos said her mother and husband were not told of her whereabouts while she was detained. 'I never want to return to the United States,' she said, adding that her husband was she was hopeful her husband could eventually move to Australia. — with reporting by Ella Mcilveen Why denied tourists can end up in federal prison CBP has long had strong powers to deny entry, detain and deport foreigners at their discretion when travellers arrive in the country even if they have a valid visa or ESTA. However, what we are seeing under the Trump administration is described as 'enhanced vetting'. Australians are being warned to not assume they are exempt to more intense checks, including inspections of emails, text messages or social media accounts at the airport. Melissa Vincenty, a US immigration lawyer and Australian migration agent who is managing director of Worldwide Migration Partners, told recently that being taken to federal prison with no criminal record, no drugs or anything that is a danger to society is the reality of being denied entry to the US in Hawaii. Ms Vincenty, a dual-citizen who was a deportation defence lawyer in Honolulu before moving to Australia, explained the state did not have an immigration facility so people were taken to the Federal Detention Center Honolulu, where there was no separate wing for immigration. It meant tourists who were denied entry to the US could be held alongside those awaiting trial — or who have been convicted and were waiting to be transferred to a mainland prison for serious federal crimes, such as kidnapping, bank robbery or drug crimes. 'It's like in the movies — you go there and there's bars, you get strip searched, all your stuff is taken away from you, you're not allowed to call anybody, nobody knows where you are,' Ms Vincenty told in April after the experience of two young German tourists being strip searched and thrown in prison made global headlines. Ms Vincenty said for Australians who were denied entry to the US in other locations like Los Angeles, San Francisco or Dallas, being held in detention facilities until the next available flight home was a real risk as there weren't constant return flights to Australia — meaning you might have to wait until the next day. If not taken to a detention facility, some travellers may stay sitting for hours in what is called a secondary inspection at the airport. A secondary inspection includes further vetting such as searching a travellers' electronic devices. 'That period can last from half an hour to 15 hours or more,' she said.
Western Telegraph
27-05-2025
- Western Telegraph
Martin Lewis 'three crucial alerts' summer holidays warning
In his ITV show, he told viewers: "Border control and flight checks are getting more stringent. There's an immigration issue going on around the world, and that means countries are getting stricter on who they let in. So you need to be more diligent with your checks." 'My daughter wasn't allowed to board the plane even though she had 7mths left on her passport' – the two key checks to ensure this doesn't happen to you (while it differs per country, these'll generally keep you safe) Courtesy of ITV Martin Lewis Money Show, watch the full show… — Martin Lewis (@MartinSLewis) May 22, 2025 Martin Lewis' three crucial travel checks "I've got three crucial alerts for you," he said. "First of all, two checks everybody needs to do on their passport now. These are, very importantly, this is about the day that you will enter the country. The first check is on the day you enter the country, are there less than six months left on your passport? Or if you're going to the EU less than three months left? If so, that's a big problem. But there's another rule, even if you had seven months, and this is what I think may have happened in Mary's daughter's case, seven months left on your passport. If your passport is over 10 years old, many countries won't let you in. Now, how could it be over 10 years old? Because it used to be that when you renewed, if you had any spare time on your old passport, they could add that on top, so you might have 10 years, 10 months, and that can bar you too. So you need to do both of those checks. Recommended reading: "Now, if you have done those checks, if there's yes to either of those, then the safest thing is to renew before you go. It takes three weeks, typically, to get a new passport, and it's cheaper to do it online. But let me be honest, I'm hearing so many cases like this. "If I was seven, eight or nine months away, and the rule was six months, I'd probably pay safe and get a new passport first anyway, so that I've got more on it, because it's being so tricky, and it's very similar. "If you're traveling to the USA or passing through the USA, you need to sort your ESTA now there is heightened border security in the States. If you don't have this as your sort of online visa, if you like, without one, People are being denied entry. You need to be careful."
Daily Mail
25-05-2025
- Daily Mail
I was deported from the US for a trivial reason... now I get a lump in my throat when I visit other countries
An Aussie woman says she is constantly worried about being barred from other countries after she was deported from America for a trivial reason. Madolline Gourley recently applied for a working holiday visa for a visit to Canada and had a shocking 2022 experience in the back of her mind. Three years ago the Brisbane local flew into Los Angeles for a pet-sitting holiday, but was denied entry to the US because she was in violation of her ESTA visa waiver. It was because the free use of an owner's home was considered a form of payment and anyone with an ESTA visa waiver is not allowed to work. She spent 75 days in the US in early 2022, which Ms Gourley sensed the officer was looking at as he questioned her. 'He started asking things like why I spent so long in the US, where did I go on that trip and why was I back again so soon,' she said. 'I told him I was able to get around to so many places because I looked after people's cats - unpaid, of course, and through a legitimate house sitting website - in cities and towns I wanted to visit.' Just hours after she arrived at LAX, she was kicked out of the country and sent back to Australia. And it was on her mind as she planned her working holiday to Canada. 'The US, Canada, Australia, the UK and New Zealand share the information collected by their immigration departments,' Ms Gourley told Sydney Morning Herald. She applied under the International Experience Canada program, and one question worried her. Her application asked: 'Have you ever been refused a visa or permit, denied entry to, or ordered to leave Canada or any other country/territory?' 'That had been weighing on my mind a lot,' Ms Gourley said. 'How being refused entry to the United States would affect future visa applications. I wasn't sure if telling the truth would result in an instant rejection, but thankfully there was an option to attach a letter outlining the particulars. 'I wrote a two-page letter and two weeks later I got an email saying my application status had been updated. 'I logged in and scrolled down to see my work permit had been approved. 'This was pretty exciting because it meant I was able to house and cat sit in Canada, and I could get a paid job if I wanted to.' Ms Gourley did the right thing, but had she lied about ever being denied entry to another country the consequences could have been serious. She even has a stamp in her passport from the US Department of Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection that reads: 'Refused in accordance with INA section 217.' It means she's a non-US citizen who has been determined by an immigration officer to be ineligible for admission. When she got to Canada she said the immigration officer only cared for her passport. 'He said to take a seat and wait for my name to be called. I didn't know what the next steps would entail, but my work permit was printed within 10 minutes,' she said. 'It was valid for two years from July 5, 2023. 'The only other thing the officer said to me was I'd need the work permit details to apply for a Social Insurance Number (SIN). 'A SIN is required before I can start working in Canada, and apparently it gives me access to certain government benefits.' Last month Ms Gourley flew to New Zealand and was again worried about answering 'yes' to the question 'Have you been deported, removed, barred or refused entry to another country?' on the traveller declaration. 'A Qantas staff member had to call NZ Immigration, and I was asked several questions before the officer went to discuss my situation with his colleague,' she said. 'The passport block was lifted, and I was able to check in, but all of this happened before I'd even left Australia.' But if she wants to go back to the US, she needs a B2 visa, which requires an interview in Australia. Deportation from a country generally means someone has committed a crime. Being deported from a country has serious implications for future travel. In most countries you can't go back for at least a year and sometimes bans are permanent. A deportation order goes on a person's permanent immigration file, and countries share the information. In March 2025, someone was denied entry to the US because he flew from Sydney to New York via Hong Kong rather than taking a more direct route. His did it to save money, but it looked suspicious to US authorities.
