Latest news with #NicolleSaroukos
Sky News AU
03-06-2025
- Sky News AU
Aussie ex-cop goes to war with US govt after harrowing detention and strip search by border agents while trying to visit Army husband
An Australian woman and former police officer has described her gruelling experience at a Hawaii airport while visiting her military husband. Sydney woman Nicolle Saroukos recently departed for a three-week vacation in Honolulu with her mum to visit her husband, Matt, a US Army lieutenant stationed on the Hawaiian island O'ahu. The couple married last December and Ms Saroukos had flown to the US twice before to visit him. The 25-year-old was flagged at the airport by the US Border Protection before she was taken for extensive questioning. 'They kept telling me that I had too many clothes in my suitcase. So because of that, they assumed that I was going to overstay my visa,' she told Hawaii News Now. Ms Saroukos was probed about her career as a police officer, whether her tattoos were gang-related, and her marriage to her American Army husband. She said officers then conducted a body cavity search, escorted her through the airport in handcuffs, and transported her to the Federal Detention Centre. At the prison, Ms Saroukos said she was again strip-searched and placed in detention alongside women who had been convicted of murder and drug offences. She said she was not given food and was not permitted to call her husband or mum. Meanwhile, her worried husband and mother had no idea where she was. 'It's not only myself, it's my mother and my husband that also had to endure that pain, my husband being a current serving member, to serve his country and to be treated in that way I find very disgusting,' she said. Homeland Security posted a lengthy statement to X after Ms Saroukos's story began to circulate online. The department appears to question the validity of Ms Saroukos's marriage to her army husband, claiming she was 'unable to remember her wedding date just four months prior'. '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,' the statement 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.' The federal security agency claimed when they searched Ms Saroukos' phone they discovered 1,000 messages exchanged between the couple had been deleted. 'If you attempt to enter the United States under false pretences, there are consequences," the statement ended. Ms Saroukos responded to the department's statement, defending her choice to bring a large amount of clothes on her trip. 'I'm a female and I have a lot of clothes," she said. "I tend to change my outfit a lot of the time throughout the day. If I go out for dinner, I'm going to change my outfit. If I go to the beach, I'm going to change my outfit. "There are a lot of different things throughout the day that people do, so I tend to pack for just in case this comes up, I may need this outfit." Ms Saroukos said the claim she could not remember the exact date of her marriage was because she was 'under so much stress' and couldn't keep up with the officer's spitfire questioning tactic. 'I said…'You guys have been asking me intensive questions for the last two hours, and I just don't remember the date, but I know it was in January,'" she said. 'I've chosen to marry this man, and now it is deemed suspicious because of my personal choice to marry somebody.' The 25-year-old rubbished the claim she met her now-husband the same day her ex 'left her'. 'I separated from my ex-partner in January 2024. He then reached out to me in May 2024, and we decided to stay in contact. We remained friends, and we would hang out and we flew to Hawaii in December,' she said. 'In my statement, it also states that my husband and I had been talking for months prior to us meeting in December. Where's that bit of information?" Ms Saroukos also said it was common for her to delete messages if the couple had a fight, however, the messages remained available on her phone, just not in her chat history. 'The deleted text messages were still in my phone, in my deleted section on an iPhone. So they read all the deleted text messages," she said. 'I delete the text messages because I don't like to read (our argument) over and over again. I just like to start fresh. 'These are their reasons as to why there was such an overuse of power, systematic abuse and putting me in a federal prison. 'These are their reasons for two cavity searches to be conducted, a strip search to be conducted, DNA to be taken from me. I was told to bend over so they could check my crevices, make sure I wasn't concealing anything I shouldn't have on me and then place me in prison clothes and then put me in a cell overnight." Ms Saroukos has been banned from returning to the United States. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection office is also expected to release a statement.
Time of India
31-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
'She didn't remember her wedding date': US on deporting Australian woman who claimed to be army officer's wife
Australian woman claimed she was detained, strip-searched and then deported out of the US while she wanted to meet her military husband. The US administration debunked the claims of 25-year-old Nicolle Saroukos, an Australian woman who claimed that she was arrested and then deported when she was in the US to visit his American husband stationed in Hawaii. Saroukos claimed she was with her mother and they both came to visit her husband but she was flagged for extra screening at the airport, leading to her arrest and deportation. Saroukos said she was not charged with anything but was strip-searched in prison and was kept with other women convicted of murder and drug offences. The Department of Homeland Security issued a long statement debunking her claims and said she raised suspicion on many accounts and the officers determined that she was not traveling for tourism. She made frequent and long-term trips to the US recently while she could not remember her wedding date -- which took place in January 2025.. The DHS investigated Saroukos' messages and claimed that she met her present husband, a US military official, 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," DHS said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Dermatologista recomenda: simples truque elimina o fungo facilmente Acabe com o Fungo Undo The administration said there was unusual activity on her phone including deletion of 1,000 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," the DHS said. "If you attempt to enter the United States under false pretenses, there are consequences," the administration said.
The Independent
28-05-2025
- General
- The Independent
What we know about deportation of an Australian woman from the US
Nicolle Saroukos, 25, from Sydney, was deported from the U.S. after visiting her husband, a U.S. Army lieutenant stationed in Hawaii. Saroukos claims she was detained overnight in a federal prison alongside convicted criminals after being flagged for extra screening at Daniel K Inouye International Airport. Border officials allegedly laughed at Saroukos when she mentioned her husband's military service and questioned her about tattoos and potential visa overstay. Saroukos says she was subjected to a body cavity search and was paraded through the airport in handcuffs before being deported, with officials failing to notify her husband. After her mother contacted the Australian consulate, Saroukos was put on the same returning flight home, and she and her husband are now together in Sydney, with Saroukos stating she feels she can never enter the United States again.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Australian woman says she was deported after visiting her U.S. Army officer husband at Hawaii base
An Australian woman who was deported from the U.S. after visiting her American husband stationed in Hawaii says she was detained in prison overnight alongside murderers before getting sent home. Nicolle Saroukos, 25, of Sydney, says she was held in federal prison overnight after trying to enter the country with her mother so the two could visit her husband, Matt, a U.S. Army lieutenant stationed on Oahu, Hawaii News Now reported. Saroukos, who has visited three times since getting married last December, said things quickly turned chaotic after border officials at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport flagged her for extra screening. The officer checking passports 'went from completely composed to just yelling at the top of his lungs, telling my mother to go stand at the back of the line and to excuse my language, 'shut up,'' Saroukos recalled. 'So I automatically started crying because that was my first response,' she said. After Saroukos and her mother were taken to a holding room where their bags and phones were searched, she was bombarded with questions, including about her former work as a police officer and whether her tattoos were gang-related to her marriage to an American. 'When I did say that I was married to somebody in the U.S. Army, the officers laughed at me. They thought it was quite comical. I don't know whether they thought I was telling the truth or not,' she said. Officers also allegedly told Saroukos, who was only planning on staying for a three-week visit, that she had too many clothes in her suitcase. 'So because of that, they assumed I was going to overstay my visa,' she said. Saroukos was held for more screening, including fingerprints and a DNA swab, while her mother was allowed to go. She was then denied entry to the U.S. and told she would be deported back to Australia after spending the night in prison, she said. '[The officer] said 'so basically what is going to happen is we're going to send you to a prison overnight where you will stay,'' she said. 'Not detention center, he said prison, and I automatically just, I started crying again.' 'Because when you think prison, you think, big time criminals. I don't know who I'm being housed with,' she said. According to Saroukos, border officials told her they would let her husband know she was being deported – but they never did. She was then put through a body cavity search before being paraded through the airport in handcuffs and taken to the Federal Detection Center. 'They stated, 'No, you're not under arrest. You haven't done anything wrong, and you'll be facing no criminal charges.' So I was very confused as to why this was all happening,' she said. After arriving at the prison, Saroukos was strip-searched and detained with women who had been convicted of murder and drug offenses, according to the report. She shared a cell with a woman from Fiji who was also denied entry and awaiting deportation. She was also not allowed to make a phone call to her husband or mother to let them know what happened. Saroukos said that the following morning, she was brought back to the airport and received a call from the Australian Consulate General in Hawaii, who had been contacted by her mother when they were separated and helped get the two on the same returning flight home. Eventually, she was able to connect with her husband over the phone. 'I think we were both just very emotional. We hadn't spoken to each other in 24 hours. He didn't know where I was or whether I was safe,' she said. 'It's not only myself, it's my mother and my husband that also had to endure that pain, my husband being a current serving member, to serve his country and to be treated in that way I find very disgusting,' she said. Saroukos' husband is now on leave with her in Sydney after waiting hours for her at the airport and receiving no answers. She said the horrifying experience 'made it physically impossible for me to even ever enter the United States ever again.' 'I felt like my world came crashing down. I felt like my marriage was over when they told me that,' she added. 'That's something that they've taken away from me as well.' A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson told Hawaii News Now that entry decisions are complex and taken very seriously, with many factors considered in each decision.
The Independent
27-05-2025
- General
- The Independent
Australian woman says she was deported after visiting her U.S. Army officer husband at Hawaii base
An Australian woman who was deported from the U.S. after visiting her American husband stationed in Hawaii says she was detained in prison overnight alongside murderers before getting sent home. Nicolle Saroukos, 25, of Sydney, says she was held in federal prison overnight after trying to enter the country with her mother so the two could visit her husband, Matt, a U.S. Army lieutenant stationed on Oahu, Hawaii News Now reported. Saroukos, who has visited three times since getting married last December, said things quickly turned chaotic after border officials at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport flagged her for extra screening. The officer checking passports 'went from completely composed to just yelling at the top of his lungs, telling my mother to go stand at the back of the line and to excuse my language, 'shut up,'' Saroukos recalled. 'So I automatically started crying because that was my first response,' she said. After Saroukos and her mother were taken to a holding room where their bags and phones were searched, she was bombarded with questions, including about her former work as a police officer and whether her tattoos were gang-related to her marriage to an American. 'When I did say that I was married to somebody in the U.S. Army, the officers laughed at me. They thought it was quite comical. I don't know whether they thought I was telling the truth or not,' she said. Officers also allegedly told Saroukos, who was only planning on staying for a three-week visit, that she had too many clothes in her suitcase. 'So because of that, they assumed I was going to overstay my visa,' she said. Saroukos was held for more screening, including fingerprints and a DNA swab, while her mother was allowed to go. She was then denied entry to the U.S. and told she would be deported back to Australia after spending the night in prison, she said. '[The officer] said 'so basically what is going to happen is we're going to send you to a prison overnight where you will stay,'' she said. 'Not detention center, he said prison, and I automatically just, I started crying again.' 'Because when you think prison, you think, big time criminals. I don't know who I'm being housed with,' she said. According to Saroukos, border officials told her they would let her husband know she was being deported – but they never did. She was then put through a body cavity search before being paraded through the airport in handcuffs and taken to the Federal Detection Center. 'They stated, 'No, you're not under arrest. You haven't done anything wrong, and you'll be facing no criminal charges.' So I was very confused as to why this was all happening,' she said. After arriving at the prison, Saroukos was strip-searched and detained with women who had been convicted of murder and drug offenses, according to the report. She shared a cell with a woman from Fiji who was also denied entry and awaiting deportation. She was also not allowed to make a phone call to her husband or mother to let them know what happened. Saroukos said that the following morning, she was brought back to the airport and received a call from the Australian Consulate General in Hawaii, who had been contacted by her mother when they were separated and helped get the two on the same returning flight home. Eventually, she was able to connect with her husband over the phone. 'I think we were both just very emotional. We hadn't spoken to each other in 24 hours. He didn't know where I was or whether I was safe,' she said. 'It's not only myself, it's my mother and my husband that also had to endure that pain, my husband being a current serving member, to serve his country and to be treated in that way I find very disgusting,' she said. Saroukos' husband is now on leave with her in Sydney after waiting hours for her at the airport and receiving no answers. She said the horrifying experience 'made it physically impossible for me to even ever enter the United States ever again.' 'I felt like my world came crashing down. I felt like my marriage was over when they told me that,' she added. 'That's something that they've taken away from me as well.' A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson told Hawaii News Now that entry decisions are complex and taken very seriously, with many factors considered in each decision.
