Latest news with #politicalbeliefs
Daily Mail
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Aussie admits to making huge mistake before flying to the US and being sent back home after terrifying 12-hour detainment
An Australian writer who was deported from the US has revealed he made a huge mistake believing that 'cleaning up' his social media and online presence before flying into the country would help him make it past border officials. Alistair Kitchen, 33, boarded a flight from Melbourne to New York to visit friends on June 12 when he was pulled to one side by a Customs and Border Protection officer during a layover at Los Angeles International Airport. He was detained for 12 hours and had his phone taken away from him before being put on a flight back to Melbourne. Mr Kitchen said he was refused entry to the US because of his political beliefs and his work reporting on the pro-Palestinian rallies that took place at Columbia University last year. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has since said this is 'unequivocally false'. Mr Kitchen said he 'began to think about what precautions' he should take after 'stories of tourists being detained in and denied entry from the US' began to circulate in Australian media. 'I opted against taking a burner phone - a move that some legal experts had advised, in the press - believing it would provoke suspicion, and simply decided to give my phone and social media a superficial clean,' he wrote in The New Yorker. Mr Kitchen lived in the US for five years before moving back home to Castlemaine, in regional Victoria, last year, and between 2022 and 2024 he studied at Columbia University. He claimed US border officers were 'fundamentally unsophisticated' and believed he would be 'extremely unlucky to be searched at all'. The writer felt prior to boarding his flight that if he were to be stopped it would be because he had been identified as a Columbia student. He said if he was asked to hand over his phone an officer 'would not find photographs from protests, Signal conversations, or my Substack posts, which I took down in the week leading up to my flight'. On reflection, the Australian writer said his method to avoid deportation was a mistake as he now believes border officers were 'prepared'. He claimed 'a US government officer must have read my work and decided that I was not fit to enter the country' because the officer that grilled him during his 12-hour detention was not aware his work had been taken down. 'By the time a foreigner cleans his social media in preparation for a trip to the US, as much of our news media has been urging us to do, it may already be too late,' Mr Kitchen added. After handing over his phone and passcode, the content of his device was downloaded by border agents, who subsequently found evidence of prior drug use. The Australian writer (pictured) claimed he was grilled on his views on the Israel-Gaza conflict and his reporting on pro-Palestinian protests during his time as a student at Columbia University in New York He was told he had not declared drug use on his Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) form, was taken to immigration detention and put on a flight home. Mr Kitchen said he told the agents he had consumed drugs before in New York, where marijuana is legal, and that he had bought weed at dispensaries in the US. His phone was not returned to him until he landed back on Australian soil. 'The individual in question was denied entry because he gave false information on his [Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) application] regarding drug use,' a DHS spokesperson told ABC News. DHS did not specifically deny Mr Kitchen was asked about the Israel-Gaza conflict, but said the US, under President Donald Trump, had the 'most secure border' in American history. The spokesperson said lawful travellers 'have nothing to fear' from measures intended to protect the US's security. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) warned Australian travellers that entry requirements into the US were 'strict'. 'Officials may ask to inspect your electronic devices, emails, text messages or social media accounts. If you refuse, they can deny your entry,' DFAT's Smarttraveller website reads.
ABC News
6 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
US denies arresting Australian writer because of his political views
The US government has denied arresting an Australian writer because of his political beliefs, saying he was turned away from the border for giving false information on an entry form. Alistair Kitchen, 33, said he was refused entry to the US last week after being grilled about his views on the Gaza conflict and articles he wrote about pro-Palestinian protests. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told the ABC claims Mr Kitchen was arrested for political views were "unequivocally false". "The individual in question was denied entry because he gave false information on his [Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) application] regarding drug use," a DHS spokesperson said on Wednesday. Mr Kitchen said he admitted to previously taking drugs after a border agent searched his phone and claimed to have found evidence of prior use. He said he told the officer he had used cannabis in New York, where it is legal. However, federal US law still prohibits the drug. Mr Kitchen was travelling from Melbourne to New York to visit friends when he was pulled out of the customs line during a layover in Los Angeles. He maintains he was initially interrogated about blog posts he penned on protests at New York's Columbia University against the war in Gaza. "Customs and Border Protection (CPB) specifically and proudly told me I was detained because of my reporting on the student protests at Columbia University, before they proceeded to interrogate me on my views on Gaza," Mr Kitchen told the ABC on Wednesday. DHS did not specifically deny that Mr Kitchen was questioned about the Israel-Gaza conflict. The agency said the US had the "most secure border" in American history "under the leadership of the Trump Administration and Secretary [Kristi] Noem". "This has allowed CPB to focus to actually vet and interview the people attempting to come into our country," the DHS spokesperson said. "Lawful travellers have nothing to fear from these measures, which are designed to protect our nation's security. "However, those intending to enter the US with fraudulent purposes or malicious intent are offered the following advice: Don't even try." Mr Kitchen said there was nothing new about travellers being denied entry for past drug use but suggested the practice was now being used to bar foreigners for other reasons. "What is new is the politically-motivated weaponisation of these policies to keep out forms of speech the US government does not want to hear," he said. Adding to Mr Kitchen's distress, after 12 hours of detention in LA, his phone was not returned until he landed in Australia on a Qantas flight on Saturday. CPB said it was "standard practice" that the phone and travel documents of a person being removed from the US were "placed into a packet and given to the airline". Mr Kitchen previously said he was told by the Australian consulate the airline had discretion over whether to return the passenger's belongings once on board. Qantas declined to comment.
New York Times
13-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Hasan Piker, Popular Left-Wing Streamer, Says He Was Detained at Airport
Hasan Piker, a popular Turkish American online streamer, said he was stopped and questioned for hours about his political beliefs by U.S. Customs and Border Protection after flying back to the United States from overseas on Sunday. Mr. Piker, 33, said in a live broadcast on Monday that he was asked about his job, his beliefs on Gaza and President Trump and other topics he discusses on his livestreams while being held for two hours at an airport in Chicago. Mr. Piker, who was born in the United States, said he was passing through Global Entry, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection program that eases security checks for travelers deemed to be low-risk, when an agent asked him to step aside. According to Mr. Piker, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent led him to an area that he described as a 'detention center,' where he was taken into a room for questioning. 'It's very obvious they knew who I was,' Mr. Piker said, using an expletive. Mr. Piker has about 4.5 million followers combined on YouTube and Twitch. His fluency between culture and ideology has led many to brand him a Joe Rogan of the left. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement on social media that Mr. Piker's 'claims that his political beliefs triggered the inspection are baseless.' 'Upon entering the country, this individual was referred for further inspection — a routine, lawful process that occurs daily, and can apply for any traveler,' she said. 'Once his inspection was complete, he was promptly released.' Mr. Piker described the conversation as 'really, really interesting' and 'very cordial.' He said the agent asked him what he did for work, the topics he talked about in his streams and whether he discussed the news, including the war in Gaza and President Trump. 'They straight-up tried to get something out of me that I think they could use to basically detain me permanently,' Mr. Piker said, using an expletive again. 'There is no direct connection or direct involvement.' Mr. Piker also described the agent, who identified himself as Iraqi, as 'very sympathetic.' When he asked the agent why he was being detained, Mr. Piker said the agent told him it was 'routine.' He said he was also repeatedly asked about his opinions on and whether he was involved with Hamas, the Houthis, an Iranian-backed militant group that controls northern Yemen, and Hezbollah. Throughout the questioning, Mr. Piker said he was transparent in his responses and repeated the same answers, including describing himself as a 'pacifist' who wanted wars to end. In his broadcast, Mr. Piker said he planned to submit an online inquiry about why he was stopped.
