Latest news with #Lofving
The Guardian
11-03-2025
- The Guardian
German tourists' ordeal reportedly ending as they are returned from US detention
A German tourist detained by US immigration authorities is due to be deported back to Germany on Tuesday after spending more than six weeks in detention, including eight days in solitary confinement. Jessica Brösche, a 29-year-old tattoo artist from Berlin, will reportedly join Lucas Sielaff, 25, from Bad Brida in Saxony Anhalt, who is reported to have returned to Germany on 6 March, after being arrested at the Mexican border on 18 February before being detained for almost two weeks. The families of the two tourists, who were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) had compared their ordeals to 'a horror film'. Both Germans were held at the Otay Mesa Detention Center, a prison in San Diego, CA. Their cases, followed closely by German consulate staff in the US and the foreign ministry in Berlin, share similarities with the fate of British tourist Rebecca Burke, 28, a graphic artist from Monmouthshire who was handcuffed and taken to a detention facility in Washington state more than eleven days ago while trying to cross into the US on the Canadian border, according to her family. All incidents are being described as evidence of the immigration crackdown in the US since the inauguration of President Donald Trump. Not only has there a crackdown on entries into the US, but the increase in cases has reportedly meant a bureaucratic backlog leading to delays in decisions on cases of those who have been detained. Brösche's mother, Birgit, confirmed to German media on Tuesday reports that her daughter was on her way home. Brösche's friend Nikita Lofving, whom the Berliner had intended to visit in Los Angeles, confirmed to the LA Times she had spoken to her friend. Speaking to a journalist from ABC 10News San Diego in a phone interview on 1 March, Brösche said she had spent eight days in solitary confinement. She said: 'It was horrible. Like, it's really horrible. I just want to get home, you know? I'm really desperate.' Lofving, who had been in constant contact with her friend, said: '[Brösche] says it was like a horror movie. They were screaming in all different rooms. After nine days, she said she went so insane that she started punching the walls and then she's got blood on her knuckles.' The staff at the prison had called a psychologist who wanted to prescribe anti-psychotic medicine to calm her down, but Brösche had refused to take anything, Lofving said. Brösche's mother told the Berlin tabloid BZ: 'I will believe it [her release] only when I am able to take her in my arms.' Brösche had said: 'I just want to get home, you know? I'm really desperate.' CoreCivic, the company that owns the Otay Mesa Detention Center, denied Brösche's claims that she had been in solitary confinement, according to ABC 10News. Brösche and Lofving had attempted to enter the US from Tijuana in Mexico on 25 January. The two were traveling with tattoo equipment. Lofving said that Brösche was arrested and taken away by officers on the border. The US immigration authorities, Ice, assumed Brösche was intending to work illegally in the US, Lofving said. Her friend was in possession of an Esta travel permit. According to Brösche's Instagram profile, she had only intended to stay in LA until mid-February. Germany's foreign ministry confirmed it had worked together with its consulate general in LA to resolve the issue. Sielaff returned to Germany last week after spending two weeks in detention, after his entry permit was cancelled at the Mexican border, amid suspicions by the US authorities that he had remained in the US longer than he was allowed. He was arrested at the border point at San Ysidro on 18 February. He had entered the US on a tourist visa and had subsequently visited Mexico with his girlfriend, Lennon Tyler, where they had taken her dog to the vet. According to Tyler, on their return to the US, Sielaff had incorrectly answered a question as to where he lived, due to his poor grasp of English. He had said Las Vegas, where he was staying with Tyler, his fiancee, when he should have said Germany, where he permanently resides, she said. After two weeks in detention, Sielaff was allowed to leave. His girlfriend said she booked him a flight from San Diego to Munich on 6 March. In an interview with the Swiss daily Tagesanzeiger, Tyler warned people against travelling to the US. 'Don't come here,' she said. 'Especially not if you're on a tourist visa, and especially not over the Mexican border.' US authorities have yet to issue a statement on the German cases. Rebecca Burke's father said on Monday that he was trying to get his daughter out of the detention centre, and had been in touch with the British consulate in San Francisco. He described the conditions in which she was being held as 'horrendous'. She had been travelling on a tourist visa, but was told she should have applied for a working visa as she planned to stay with a family receiving accommodation in exchange for carrying out domestic chores.
CNN
05-03-2025
- CNN
A German tattoo artist came to the US for a 3-week trip. She's now been in ICE detention for over a month
A German tattoo artist who tried to enter the United States from Mexico through the San Diego border has been in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention for over a month, according to a friend who witnessed her being detained. Jessica Brösche, a Berlin-based tattoo artist, had been vacationing in Mexico when she decided to travel to the US from Tijuana with an American friend, Nikita Lofving. But at the San Ysidro port of entry immigration authorities took Brösche into custody. 'They took her right in front of me as we were walking over,' Lofving, a clothing designer based in Los Angeles, told CNN. 'Two hours passed, and then she called me and said, 'Hey, I'm gonna get deported back to Germany. I'll call you from Germany in a couple of days.'' The call was on January 25. Brösche has been in detention ever since, half a month past when she originally hoped to leave the US on February 15, Lofving says. According to the ICE Detainee Locator, Brösche is currently in the Otay Mesa Detention Facility, in San Diego County, while she awaits deportation. CNN reached out to both ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to ask why she was detained. A spokesperson from CBP told CNN affiliate KGTV that if a foreign national denied admission to the US is unable to book travel back to their country of origin 'he or she will be turned over to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).' In a statement to KGTV, an ICE spokesperson wrote that Brösche is in detention due 'to the violation of the terms and conditions of her admission.' Lovfing told CNN that her German friend was joining her in Los Angeles to tattoo her. She speculated that immigration officials may have misinterpreted Brösche's statements about the project as a declaration that she'd come to the US to work. 'I mean, she was coming to work, but not really for money,' Lofving said. 'We have an agreement between artists. She's one of my best friends. We've been working on this tattoo project on my body for the last five or six years, and in exchange, I make clothes for her.' In a phone interview with KGTV last month, Brösche said that she had been kept in 'horrible' solitary confinement for eight days when she entered US custody. 'I just want to get home, you know? I'm really desperate,' Brösche told KGTV from Otay Mesa. 'I don't really understand why it's taking so long to get back to Germany.' Lofving said that Brösche's friends and family are hoping that she'll be out of detention and on a flight back to Germany on March 11, and that her mother bought her a plane ticket home. They aren't sure whether ICE will let her out by then, however. 'We sent (Brösche) back the information for the tickets, and she told her ICE agent,' Lofving continued, saying the ICE agent had said, 'No, you have to get the ticket approved before you buy it.' A spokesperson from the German Consulate in LA told CNN in an email that they are 'aware of the case and in close contact about it with the relevant US authorities as well as with family and close friends of the person concerned.' CoreCivic, the private prison company that operates Otay Mesa, told CNN that the company 'does not know the circumstances of individuals when they are placed in our facilities.' 'Our responsibility is to care for each person respectfully and humanely while they receive the legal due process that they are entitled to,' said spokesperson Ryan Gustin. Jeff Joseph, president-elect of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told CNN that Brösche's case is 'fairly unusual.' Brösche, who entered the US via the Visa Waiver Program agreement that the US has with Germany and 40 other countries, would usually have been deported immediately rather than sit in detention for over a month, Joseph said. By entering on the waiver program, a tourist waives their right to any kind of litigation, Joseph explained. But normally, a tourist denied entry to the US would be allowed to withdraw their application for admission. 'Instead of being subjected to deportation proceedings, they're allowed to kind of get back on the airplane and turn around and go home, and that does not appear to have happened in this case,' Joseph continued. In any case, Joseph said that Brösche's extended stay in Otay Mesa is 'extremely concerning.'
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Yahoo
A German tattoo artist came to the US for a 3-week trip. She's now been in ICE detention for over a month
A German tattoo artist who tried to enter the United States from Mexico through the San Diego border has been in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention for over a month, according to a friend who witnessed her being detained. Jessica Brösche, a Berlin-based tattoo artist, had been vacationing in Mexico when she decided to travel to the US from Tijuana with an American friend, Nikita Lofving. But at the San Ysidro port of entry immigration authorities took Brösche into custody. 'They took her right in front of me as we were walking over,' Lofving, a clothing designer based in Los Angeles, told CNN. 'Two hours passed, and then she called me and said, 'Hey, I'm gonna get deported back to Germany. I'll call you from Germany in a couple of days.'' The call was on January 25. Brösche has been in detention ever since, half a month past when she originally hoped to leave the US on February 15, Lofving says. According to the ICE Detainee Locator, Brösche is currently in the Otay Mesa Detention Facility, in San Diego County, while she awaits deportation. CNN reached out to both ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to ask why she was detained. A spokesperson from CBP told CNN affiliate KGTV that if a foreign national denied admission to the US is unable to book travel back to their country of origin 'he or she will be turned over to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).' In a statement to KGTV, an ICE spokesperson wrote that Brösche is in detention due 'to the violation of the terms and conditions of her admission.' Lovfing told CNN that her German friend was joining her in Los Angeles to tattoo her. She speculated that immigration officials may have misinterpreted Brösche's statements about the project as a declaration that she'd come to the US to work. 'I mean, she was coming to work, but not really for money,' Lofving said. 'We have an agreement between artists. She's one of my best friends. We've been working on this tattoo project on my body for the last five or six years, and in exchange, I make clothes for her.' In a phone interview with KGTV last month, Brösche said that she had been kept in 'horrible' solitary confinement for eight days when she entered US custody. 'I just want to get home, you know? I'm really desperate,' Brösche told KGTV from Otay Mesa. 'I don't really understand why it's taking so long to get back to Germany.' Lofving said that Brösche's friends and family are hoping that she'll be out of detention and on a flight back to Germany on March 11, and that her mother bought her a plane ticket home. They aren't sure whether ICE will let her out by then, however. 'We sent (Brösche) back the information for the tickets, and she told her ICE agent,' Lofving continued, saying the ICE agent had said, 'No, you have to get the ticket approved before you buy it.' A spokesperson from the German Consulate in LA told CNN in an email that they are 'aware of the case and in close contact about it with the relevant US authorities as well as with family and close friends of the person concerned.' CoreCivic, the private prison company that operates Otay Mesa, told CNN that the company 'does not know the circumstances of individuals when they are placed in our facilities.' 'Our responsibility is to care for each person respectfully and humanely while they receive the legal due process that they are entitled to,' said spokesperson Ryan Gustin. Jeff Joseph, president-elect of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told CNN that Brösche's case is 'fairly unusual.' Brösche, who entered the US via the Visa Waiver Program agreement that the US has with Germany and 40 other countries, would usually have been deported immediately rather than sit in detention for over a month, Joseph said. By entering on the waiver program, a tourist waives their right to any kind of litigation, Joseph explained. But normally, a tourist denied entry to the US would be allowed to withdraw their application for admission. 'Instead of being subjected to deportation proceedings, they're allowed to kind of get back on the airplane and turn around and go home, and that does not appear to have happened in this case,' Joseph continued. In any case, Joseph said that Brösche's extended stay in Otay Mesa is 'extremely concerning.'
CNN
05-03-2025
- CNN
A German tattoo artist came to the US for a 3-week trip. She's now been in ICE detention for over a month
A German tattoo artist who tried to enter the United States from Mexico through the San Diego border has been in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention for over a month, according to a friend who witnessed her being detained. Jessica Brösche, a Berlin-based tattoo artist, had been vacationing in Mexico when she decided to travel to the US from Tijuana with an American friend, Nikita Lofving. But at the San Ysidro port of entry immigration authorities took Brösche into custody. 'They took her right in front of me as we were walking over,' Lofving, a clothing designer based in Los Angeles, told CNN. 'Two hours passed, and then she called me and said, 'Hey, I'm gonna get deported back to Germany. I'll call you from Germany in a couple of days.'' The call was on January 25. Brösche has been in detention ever since, half a month past when she originally hoped to leave the US on February 15, Lofving says. According to the ICE Detainee Locator, Brösche is currently in the Otay Mesa Detention Facility, in San Diego County, while she awaits deportation. CNN reached out to both ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to ask why she was detained. A spokesperson from CBP told CNN affiliate KGTV that if a foreign national denied admission to the US is unable to book travel back to their country of origin 'he or she will be turned over to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).' In a statement to KGTV, an ICE spokesperson wrote that Brösche is in detention due 'to the violation of the terms and conditions of her admission.' Lovfing told CNN that her German friend was joining her in Los Angeles to tattoo her. She speculated that immigration officials may have misinterpreted Brösche's statements about the project as a declaration that she'd come to the US to work. 'I mean, she was coming to work, but not really for money,' Lofving said. 'We have an agreement between artists. She's one of my best friends. We've been working on this tattoo project on my body for the last five or six years, and in exchange, I make clothes for her.' In a phone interview with KGTV last month, Brösche said that she had been kept in 'horrible' solitary confinement for eight days when she entered US custody. 'I just want to get home, you know? I'm really desperate,' Brösche told KGTV from Otay Mesa. 'I don't really understand why it's taking so long to get back to Germany.' Lofving said that Brösche's friends and family are hoping that she'll be out of detention and on a flight back to Germany on March 11, and that her mother bought her a plane ticket home. They aren't sure whether ICE will let her out by then, however. 'We sent (Brösche) back the information for the tickets, and she told her ICE agent,' Lofving continued, saying the ICE agent had said, 'No, you have to get the ticket approved before you buy it.' A spokesperson from the German Consulate in LA told CNN in an email that they are 'aware of the case and in close contact about it with the relevant US authorities as well as with family and close friends of the person concerned.' CoreCivic, the private prison company that operates Otay Mesa, told CNN that the company 'does not know the circumstances of individuals when they are placed in our facilities.' 'Our responsibility is to care for each person respectfully and humanely while they receive the legal due process that they are entitled to,' said spokesperson Ryan Gustin. Jeff Joseph, president-elect of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told CNN that Brösche's case is 'fairly unusual.' Brösche, who entered the US via the Visa Waiver Program agreement that the US has with Germany and 40 other countries, would usually have been deported immediately rather than sit in detention for over a month, Joseph said. By entering on the waiver program, a tourist waives their right to any kind of litigation, Joseph explained. But normally, a tourist denied entry to the US would be allowed to withdraw their application for admission. 'Instead of being subjected to deportation proceedings, they're allowed to kind of get back on the airplane and turn around and go home, and that does not appear to have happened in this case,' Joseph continued. In any case, Joseph said that Brösche's extended stay in Otay Mesa is 'extremely concerning.'
The Guardian
03-03-2025
- The Guardian
German tourist is held at immigration detention center for more than a month
A German tourist is fighting to be released from an immigration detention center after she was denied entry at the San Diego border and taken into custody by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) last month. Jessica Brösche, a 26-year-old German tattoo artist, is being indefinitely detained by US Customs and Border Protection after she tried to enter San Diego on 25 January from Tijuana, Mexico, with her American best friend, Amelia Lofving. The two were traveling with tattoo equipment. 'I just want to get home, you know? I'm really desperate,' Brösche told ABC News Team 10 in a phone interview from a detention facility. Lofving, a designer, had just moved to Los Angeles when she met up with Brösche in Tijuana with plans to cross the border together and travel to Los Angeles, but Brösche never made it to the city. Brösche had her German passport, confirmation of her visa waiver to enter the country, and a copy of her return ticket back to Berlin, Lofving said. But she was still pulled aside for a secondary inspection by a US Customs and Border Protection agent. Brösche said she then spent days detained in a cell at the San Diego border before being taken into custody by Ice. The agency brought her to the Otay Mesa detention center, where she's now been for more than a month. According to KPBS, US Customs and Border Protection accused Brösche of planning to violate the terms of the visa waiver program by intending to work as a tattoo artist during her time in Los Angeles. According to ABC's Team 10, she was forced to spend eight days in solitary confinement in the facility. 'She says it was like a horror movie. They were screaming in all different rooms. After nine days, she said she went so insane that she started punching the walls and then she's got blood on her knuckles,' Lofving said of her friend's experience. Lofving said she asked Ice agents if Brösche could be sent back to Mexico, but they responded that her lack of legal residency would mean she would be deported back to Germany. Lofving also said she tried to get help from the German consulate in Los Angeles. Lofving initially had no idea where Brösche was being held or if she had already been deported to Germany. It was only after pleading for help online and using the federal Detainee Locator website that she was able to track down her friend. It would be 25 days before Lofving would find and be allowed to visit her friend at the detention, where she remains.
