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Man 'refused entry into US' as border control catch him with bald JD Vance meme
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- supertrope 1y agoA teacher in school told me about the time they visited East Germany. Armed guards poked though his luggage. It's a slippery slope toward fascism.
- mywittyname 1y agoWe are at the bottom of that slope and are being buried under all of the shit that's continuing to slide down it.
- propagandist 1y agoFrom slavery to the Chinese exclusion act to Jim Crow to the Japanese internment camps to the patriot act. It's hard to make the case we were anything but. What has changed recently is technology collapsing the world into a single blob of information, and that aspect gets worse every year.
- FredPret 1y agoDespite the headline on this article you still have way more freedom and specifically freedom of speech in the US than the rest of us. The law works differently at the border, especially for non-citizens. Tourists don't have any legal right to get in. You may argue that the guards should be kinder and I would agree. The historical examples you mention involve racism and slavery that were terrible but also the global standard at the time. The Patriot Act is scary, but it doesn't seem much better elsewhere in the Anglosphere or in Europe. Say something impolitic loud enough and you'll get in trouble anywhere. Here's hoping individual freedoms win in the end.
- mywittyname 1y ago> you still have way more freedom and specifically freedom of speech in the US than the rest of us Depends on who "you" are. There some some who are allowed to openly make tangible, if thinly veiled death threats to others without repercussions. Others can have their lives ruined over trivial things. The "you"s who are not granted as much freedom of speech are aware of it and only express themselves among trusted people.
- FredPret 1y agoThere is now an absolute fountain of criticism of the current administration, the USA itself, and the entire West coming from every demographic in the USA. This isn't a new thing or restricted to Trump. I don't see any mass arrests, chilling of media, or official propaganda making the rounds.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- propagandist 1y agoYou are not looking. Law firms are targeted and silenced. Media is subservient. People absolutely do watch what they say for a large number of reasons. The type of speech being policed is different, but it's absolutely happening.
- FredPret 1y agoYou're right and I don't like it one bit, but there was also a long list of true things that we weren't allowed to say aloud under the previous lot.
- propagandist 1y agoGreat, glad we agree. I didn't like the precious lot one bit either. Glad they're gone.
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- beambot 1y agoEast Germany was under communist control after the fascist regime lost the war... It's accurate to describe as "authoritarian", but not "fascist."
- HideousKojima 1y ago[flagged]
- nocoiner 1y agoIn fact, East Germany was so anti-fascist they erected the “Anti-Fascist Barrier” around East Berlin.
- BurningFrog 1y agoFor many, everything bad is "fascism", regardless of any similarity to the Mussolini rule of Italy 1922-1943.
- pmontra 1y agoOf course it lacked the mark on the anticommunism checkbox, but control of society and control of economy were checked. That's 50% of the fascist playbook. There was probably some nationalism too. Stalin buried internatonalism quickly. They would inevitably bow to the Russian overlords. No shame about it. We were bowing to the USA in the West and we still are. Anyway, was communism only a facade by the 70s and the 80s? In that case it was a fully fascist country. All of the East. I'd like to hear from somebody who lived in those countries at that time.
- csense 1y agoArmed guards in 1980's East Germany open your luggage and poke through it by hand. TSA employees in 2000's USA scan your luggage and poke through it with technology. For any reason or no reason, they can open it up and poke through it by hand, or ask for assistance from nearby policemen with guns. Is there any moral difference? If so, what is it? (Also, nitpick: The East Germans were Communists, not fascists.)
- arlort 1y agoYes, the moral difference is in the motivation and consequences. We take into account motivation pretty often to evaluate morality not sure why you can't apply it here TSA's purpose is prevent harm to other passengers (effectiveness is debatable but not the point), the east German border guards were there to keep control on what information the population could access and share They are not the same thing even if the means look the same
- anal_reactor 1y agoSo basically, "when we do it it's good, when they do it it's bad"? I didn't think I'd see someone seriously practice such morality on this website.
- Veen 1y agoMost morally mature people practice that sort of reasoning. They take into account intentions, likely consequences, the state of knowledge of those involved, and other complicating factors before coming to a conclusion.
- anal_reactor 1y agoI think we have exactly opposite definitions of "moral maturity".
- Veen 1y agoYou may be right, anal_reactor.
- wang_li 1y agoI went to Canada 10 years ago. When they asked why, I told them I was mailing a birthday gift to a Canadian friend and I wanted to be the one who had to pay any duties or taxes. They had me pull over and go inside. Where they asked the password for my phone and then took it. A couple hours later they came back and gave me my phone, charged me ~$100 and let me go through. When I got to my car I found that they had opened the package I was mailing and a number of things had been moved around, from which I concluded they had also searched my car. i drove to Surrey to a UPS Store, resealed and shipped the package and returned to the border. The US Immigration officer asked why I was only in Canada for 30 minutes, I explained, he laughed and sent me on my way. Moral of the story is that every country can and will search your stuff and detain you and often turn you back for no meaningful reason.
- gruez 1y ago>Armed guards poked though his luggage. It's a slippery slope toward fascism. Is it? Lack of rights at the border isn't "fascism", it's the norm. I don't think any country gives you 4th amendment (or similar) rights at the border, even liberal democracies.
- Alupis 1y agoAnd nearly all "rights" are rights of citizens, not visitors...
- Freedom2 1y agoIs the implication here that lawfully granted visas and green card holders don't have rights in the US?
- School-Cotton 1y agoThis is false in every country I know of with even a rudimentary adherence to the rule of law, including the US.
- thrance 1y agoSo foreigners have no rights in the US?? You clearly do not understand the law, at all.
- Alupis 1y agoYou clearly do not understand how to read, at all.
- School-Cotton 1y agoEast Germany was not a fascist state, it was an explicitly anti-fascist state. Horribly authoritarian, with wanton disregard for human rights, yes, but not "fascist".
- Alupis 1y agoIt's yet more evidence almost 0% of the population actually understands what "fascism" really is...
- School-Cotton 1y agoRight. Fascism and Soviet Bloc-style communism are both "bad" in the sense that they have tended to produce authoritarian dictatorships that massively increase human misery. But other than that, they are not at all the same ideology.
- Alupis 1y agoThe problem is with people labeling anything they dislike as "fascist". Surely we can admit it dilutes the actual meaning of the word by using it to refer to things that are, in-fact, not fascist?
- tartoran 1y agoYeah, they were a democracy:) German Democratic Republic (GDR). Same with NK: Democratic People's Republic of Korea
- School-Cotton 1y agoThey were not a democracy despite what they had in the name. They were also not fascist, which has nothing to do with what was in their name. They were actually not fascist, in the sense that they didn't follow the ideology called "fascism". Fascism is a specific ideology invented in Italy in the early 20th century; it does not just mean any authoritarian dictatorship.
- barbazoo 1y ago> It's a slippery slope toward fascism. Not sure I would ever consider the GDR to have been "fascist". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Germany https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Germany
- jimbokun 1y agoAuthoritarianism is the more appropriate term I think.
- kube-system 1y agoInterestingly, as an American, literally the only time I've had my luggage poked through by an armed guard was in a social democracy in Europe.
- freeone3000 1y agoThe only time that you’ve known of! Fly with locked luggage and see how often that lock stays intact.
- kube-system 1y agoTSA removes locks with bolt cutters, they don't shoot them off.
- freeone3000 1y ago… well, yes, but they are armed guards and they are searching your luggage. I feel that’s more relevant than the exact method of lock removal.
- kube-system 1y agoNo, the TSA security officers who are inspecting passengers and their luggage do not have arrest powers and are not armed. If you are doing something illegal, they call the police, and the police arrest you.
- freeone3000 1y agoDoes your need to be technically correct outweigh your need to understand an argument?
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- Freedom2 1y ago
- keybored 1y agoI think East Germany was the opposite of fascism. At least compared to West Germany.
- platevoltage 1y agoThis is what we get when the American right wing conflates the two terms on TV for years and years. Don't like the definition of a word? just change it.
- smsm42 1y agoIf border officers being armed or inspecting luggage is a definition of fascism to you, you'd struggle hard to find a lot of non-fascist countries. I have my luggage inspected each time I travel, and a lot of security personnel in airports are armed - are all airports already fascist?
- tranchebald 1y agoThe Stasi were communist. Maybe you want to say “authoritarian”?
- foobarian 1y agoIt was a lot more invasive than that in those days. The border agents would rifle through our groceries and occasionally things like dried meats or booze would magically go missing. Other times they would be officially confiscated, or customs levied.
- perihelions 1y ago> "placed in a cell" I think the title is deficient and should be based on this higher-weighted fact, over the weaker phrasing "refused entry". "Tourist jailed without trial for possessing political cartoon"
- sarchertech 1y agoHe was placed in a cell before they found the Vance image. He also said the border guard didn’t like that image or an image of him with a wooden pipe. I don’t doubt that it’s possible he was denied because of the Vance image and that in itself says something terrible about the current state of affairs. But I think it’s more likely that he was stopped based on some other red flag like not having a return ticket and denied because of that.
- SV_BubbleTime 1y ago[flagged]
- sarchertech 1y agoWhen I say it’s possible, I don’t think that it’s the official CBP policy, but I have had enough interactions with power tripping cops to believe that it’s possible that the kid was disrespectful to the wrong guy. Customs agents have wide latitude in determining who can enter, and I could see a situation where an already angry agent saw the Vance thing, got even angrier and said you’re outta here.
- SV_BubbleTime 1y agoSure, maybe. But there’s clearly an entire other side of the story along with the Norwegian government warning other travelers, they must have their documents on them.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
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- spaceribs 1y agoCowardly, weak, and pathetic are the only attributes you can use to describe this behavior. I'm not saying this in order to "get a rise" or "inflame" a discussion here, but how can anyone really justify this?
- AlgorithmicTime 1y ago[dead]
- bix6 1y agoThat’s not JD Vance it’s Marc Andreessen!
- throw4847285 1y agoHead is not egg shaped enough.
- FeteCommuniste 1y agoNah, the top of the head isn't pointy enough for it to be Andreessen.
- paxys 1y agoWonder what the "political correctness is bad" "nobody is allowed to crack jokes anymore" "cancel culture is out of control" crowd will say about this one...
- account42 1y agoHopefully they will look into this further than the clickbait headline and find out that no, he was not denied entry for a meme.
- throwawayq3423 1y agoThe free speech crowd was never serious, they just want power and control over speech they don't like.
- jbm 1y agoI'm pretty sure there is a free speech crowd that was serious about this; I just don't think it's as big as it is portrayed, maybe 5% of the US population at most. No one likes Free Speech when they are on the receiving end, but you learn to tolerate it.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- yodsanklai 1y agoDon't worry, they'll find a way to justify it.
- sjsdaiuasgdia 1y agoWilhoit's Law "Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition. There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect."
- aaronbrethorst 1y ago“For my friends, everything; for my enemies, the law.” https://plas.princeton.edu/news/2023/do-latin-america’s-top-prosecutors-have-too-much-power https://plas.princeton.edu/news/2023/do-latin-america’s-top-...
- Rebuff5007 1y agoI vote for a campaign to make sure every single entrant has this meme on their phone.
- nine_k 1y agoAre you volunteering to be one of the entrants, too?
- MadnessASAP 1y agoYou're making a bet that the country with the largest prison system on earth and 5th highest incarceration rate can't arrest all of us. You do you but that's gonna be a no for me.
- mcosta 1y agoWhile the US has the largest prison population, it ranks lower in per capita incarceration rates compared to some other nations. These are El Salvador, Rwanada, Turkmenistan and Cuba.
- thrance 1y agoTheir prisons are full, which is why the supreme court allowed the administration to deport people wherever is most convenient without due process.
- CoastalCoder 1y agoIt would be an interesting application of the Streisand effect.
- surgical_fire 1y agoThank you but no. I prefer to be safely at home across the pond. I don't want to be in some Central American concentration camp when they decide that its time to turn on the ovens.
- IncreasePosts 1y agoIs this the visitor's own take on what happened? Or did they tell him "you're denied entry because of your JD Vance meme"? Per the article they also asked him a bunch of other things like about right wing terrorism. Maybe his answers sucked? Maybe he was being evasive? There was the case a few months ago of a Canadian lady being detained and denied entry "for no reason", and then it turned out she wanted to work in the US while on a tourist visa, and also was attempting to evade border patrol by flying to Mexico and entering via the southern border instead of the northern border or at an airport, where she had previously been denied admittance.
- marcusverus 1y ago[flagged]
- throwawayq3423 1y agoSo how many times does something like this need to happen before you accept that it's happening?
- ryandrake 1y ago[flagged]
- IncreasePosts 1y agoExactly once. But, I would need to know what actually happened, as opposed to what a person thinks or reports having happened. To share an anecdote, a person I knew in high school went around telling people that he got tasered for having a broken tail light on his car. Well, he did have a broken tail light, and he was tasered, but when the body cam footage came out, it tells the story of kid getting pulled over, being extremely combative with the initially polite officer, refusing to provide identification, refusing to exit the vehicle 10 times when the officer was attempting to lawfully arrest him, and then being tasered.
- throwawayq3423 1y agoSo what circumstances are needed for you to believe something actually happened, besides several examples of the exact same behavior from the administration ?
- oceansky 1y agoDoes even China does that? Go through pics on your personal device at the border? Refuse entry over memes.
- paxys 1y agoHave been to China multiple times and no, this does not happen.
- gruez 1y agoTo be fair something that makes the news isn't necessarily indicative of the median experience either. If US and China both looked through 0.1% of traveler's phones, that'd be both compatible with horror stories making the news, and widespread anecdotes of "weird, never happened to me".
- TheOtherHobbes 1y agoUS visa applicants are required to disclose five years of social media history and to make listed accounts public. https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2025/06/announcement-of-expanded-screening-and-vetting-for-visa-applicants/ https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/20...
- gruez 1y ago>disclose five years of social media history Where does it say that? Your source only says profiles need to be public Moreover your description is slightly misleading because it only applies to "all applicants for F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas", which notably excludes tourism visas (B-2). The visas listed all seem to be academic related, presumably because the administration wants to crack down on woke ivy league students or whatever.
- perihelions 1y agoIt was on HN yesterday, > "THE US EMBASSY in Dublin is tightening its visa requirements, saying that future applicants looking to visit the country will be required to divulge “all social media usernames or handles of every platform they have used from the last five years” on their visa application form." https://www.thejournal.ie/us-visa-changes-6740830-Jun2025/ https://www.thejournal.ie/us-visa-changes-6740830-Jun2025/ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44354298 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44354298 (209 comments)
- dyauspitr 1y agoShould I start putting my phone in checked baggage? Is that allowed with the batteries and stuff? I guess I can carry a cheap older smartphone with a burner number for the actual flight.
- tsimionescu 1y agoThat wouldn't matter, you get your checked luggage before border control, don't you?
- lifeinthevoid 1y agoNot really, in JFK terminal 4 at least, you get your luggage after passing through immigration.
- knorker 1y agoNo. Sure, if you get sent to secondary screening they may pick up your bag for you, but no. Luggage pickup is after CBP. As far as I remember this is the case everywhere.
- ryandrake 1y agoEvery country I’ve ever travelled to, it’s: 1. Go through immigration, 2. Pick up your luggage, 3. Go through customs.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- account42 1y agoNot in any airport I have been to. Usually it's landing -> immigration (border control) -> baggage claim -> customs (just walk through if you have nothing to declare) -> exit.
- lifeinthevoid 1y ago
- knorker 1y agoICE? I would have expected this to be handled by CBP.
- thehamkercat 1y agoland of the free
- givemeethekeys 1y agoThis feels like a made up story just like so many other stories that get published to scare people from visiting China, India, Mexico, Columbia, etc.
- SpaceL10n 1y agoCould be. The only information I can find about this is that the young man told his local newspaper what happened and then other news outlets just regurgitated the young man's account of what happened with zero fact-checking or corroborating evidence. Many people are taking one man's word as truth. I'd like more proof before coming to any conclusions.
- cdreke 1y agoThat is a very good point and a far more interesting one that this story is supposed to make. The matrix is here.
- nelsonfigueroa 1y agoJeez...is the current administration that sensitive to criticism? I wonder if this comment will come back to haunt me some day.
- Arubis 1y agoPerhaps the most consistent common thread of despotic and tyrannical types is a complete absence of a sense of humor.
- DocTomoe 1y agoMost likely, this wasn’t official policy — just a low-paid border agent on a personal power trip. Give a man a uniform, and watch him turn tyrant. The Stanford Prison Experiment says hello. The real problem is that the US system allows individuals with minimal training and virtually no oversight to wield unchecked power over travelers' lives.
- theyinwhy 1y agoIt's anticipatory obedience, "a situation where one attempts to predict expectations others (particularly superiors) have, without explicit communication, and to fulfill (or exceed) those expectations.", see https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/anticipatory_obedience https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/anticipatory_obedience
- AdamN 1y agoThis is really just the essence of bureaucracy - which is the problem with these rules that sounds fine if you don't think about the implementation of them. Trump himself probably wouldn't care (which is why he thinks these rules are fine - he knows what should be a jailable offense) but of course the bureaucracy needs to make rules that any of the thousands of border guards can follow. The outcome is a bullwhip effect and you get this (or worse).
- SV_BubbleTime 1y agoWhat was he like when you spent time with him?
- slicktux 1y agoI’d prefer a meme of Wilfred The Dog JD Vance…the bald one is creepy!
- Disposal8433 1y agoGoing to the USA as a tourist might be the most stupid action that one can make at this time. Unless you have a dying mother or father, there is absolutely no reason to visit this country. It reminds me of the tourists that used to go to North Korea for fun some years ago, it never was a good idea.
- EA-3167 1y agoIn 2023, when tourism rates had yet to fully recover from Covid, over 66 million people visited the US from abroad. I don't have more recent statistics, but I'm going to assume that the number is the same or higher this year. Out of that population which could fill a decent-sized country, how many people have been treated so unfairly as the one in this article? How do those stats compare with other countries, and the inevitable abuses that occur in any vast bureaucracy? It's possible to oppose the current US administration and still retain your rationality.
- TheOtherHobbes 1y agoWhat percentage of unnecessary and abusive jailings would you - as a rational person - consider acceptable?
- School-Cotton 1y ago(Not the person you originally replied to). Zero, but that's not the same question. If something I think is unacceptable happens at a low rate, the fact that I think it's bad doesn't mean it's necessarily rational to change one's travel plans because of it, if the rate is low enough. If I go to Iceland, there is some nonzero chance I'll be killed in a surprise volcanic eruption, but I wouldn't let that deter me from visiting Iceland. The relatively high violent crime rate in US cities which was already present before the current administration is already a much more real reason not to visit the US than authoritarian border guards, although I'd argue even that would be a bit exaggerated.
- dendrite9 1y ago
- pluc 1y agoHmmm, in what other country is it a punishable offence to make fun of its dear leaders? Thailand? North Korea? Myanmar? Like it or not, these countries are who you are being compared to.
- vbezhenar 1y agoAlmost any country can deny entry at will of border officer.
- jajuuka 1y agoYou completely missed the point. The issue isn't denying entry, it's denying entry for this reason.
- Workaccount2 1y agoHe was detained before the image was found. It's most likely there is another detail to this story that is being left out.
- remram 1y agoDon't go by the submitted title only. He was detained for hours with no food or water, beaten up, strip-searched, forced to give blood samples.
- happytoexplain 1y agoAnd yet in practice, this example is rare. "Can" is not "should" or "is immune from criticism for doing so".
- smsm42 1y agoGermany: https://www.foxnews.com/media/germany-started-criminal-investigation-social-media-user-calling-female-politician-fat https://www.foxnews.com/media/germany-started-criminal-inves... France: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230329-french-woman-faces-trial-for-insulting-macron-on-facebook https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230329-french-woman-... Spain: https://www.catalannews.com/society-science/item/belgian-court-of-appeals-rejects-extraditing-rapper-valtonyc-2 https://www.catalannews.com/society-science/item/belgian-cou... Poland: https://www.intellinews.com/polish-writer-faces-prison-for-calling-president-duda-a-moron-206202/ https://www.intellinews.com/polish-writer-faces-prison-for-c... United Kingdom: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/13/queen-elizabeth-death-protests-arrest-police/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/13/queen-elizab... https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/16/activist-shocked-conviction-cameron-protest https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/16/activist-shock... Italy: https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/18/italian-journalist-ordered-pay-damages-mocking-giorgia-meloni-height?utm_source=chatgpt.com https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/18/italia... Note in most of these cases people prosecuted faced graver consequences than not being let into the country, and were full citizens, not foreigners.
- mellosouls 1y agoObviously if it is true this is ridiculous and condemnable but it would be nice to have more supporting evidence than this report.
- SpaceL10n 1y agoIndeed. The only information we seem to have is the report this young man provided to his local newspaper. There are no corroborating witnesses or evidence thus far that I can find that confirm this incident actually occurred.
- kizer 1y agoWhat the hell is happening to our country :(
- pstuart 1y agoA fascist coup is in play and they are actively dismantling all the safeguards to prevent it.
- platevoltage 1y agoand we have at least 3.5 years to go.
- tumsfestival 1y agoIf you're lucky, that is. As things are going it could be another 4 years... Maybe more.
- United857 1y agoI’m no fan of the current administration but this is one person’s account so inherently 1 sided. I just flew in from Europe and most people were not searched. US border control don’t have time to systemically search the phones of all travelers. I’m guessing some other red flag triggered the questioning and phone search and denial (eg no return ticket or accommodation booked).
- pstuart 1y agoIt lines up with other reports for the same general issue, and also jibes with how the admin itself deals with criticism.
- IAmBroom 1y ago"Evidence? When it supports our assumptions? Bah!"
- perching_aix 1y agoYeah, expecting a governmental agency to produce evidence that will negatively impact their political standing is a very reasonable request indeed. Or expecting evidence from a person who was stripped of all their devices. How silly these people are for working with what they have. They even lie about how much and what quality of information is it that they possess... oh wait, no they don't, you're just being a jackass. Well ain't that unfortunate.
- account42 1y agoIt does line up - in the other reports and this one there were facts conveniently omitted.
- eviks 1y agoWhy is it less credible than your inherently 0 sided guess?
- Veen 1y ago
- thrownaway561 1y agoyou people have been had... RTFA... a tourist "claims" this happened. The tourist name is Mads Mikkelsen??? The dude has the same name as the fucking actor??? Really??? Seriously people, learn when things smell of bullshit and when it doesn't.
- DocTomoe 1y agoYou are aware that names are not UUIDs, and that the same name can be used by several people, right? Especially since Mikkelsen is a rather common Danish surname (with around 35000 people named that) and Mads having been a very popular boy's name in the 1990s?
- knowaveragejoe 1y agoAh yes, it's a conspiracy and you spotted the critical oversight on their part. Real astute. It's not actually that unlikely for other people to possess the name.
- TheBlight 1y ago[flagged]
- krunck 1y agoThis guy was certainly flagged before he got on the plane in Norway. The US has data sharing agreements with lots of countries. His online behaviour was already known. The Trump administration changed the filters for what they're looking for in people's profiles. This guy fit. If you are going to upset the empire with your on and offline behaviour, you better practice solid information hygene.
- knorker 1y agoThen why was his ESTA approved?
- delfinom 1y agoESTA is a farce to justify a fee to funnel into the country's endless debt hole.
- account42 1y agoYour ESTA approval clearly states that it does not grant you a right to enter the US and that the final decision will only be made at the border. So he was likely flagged but still may have had a chance to enter depending on the outcome of the border interrogation.
- knorker 1y agoYeah, but my point was as a reply to the claim that it was clearly something else that denied him entry. Which it could still be. ESTA was granted because it was a "maybe". Then they found something at the border that was not in meme form, that the article doesn't mention. Maybe he had no pre booked return ticket, was claiming to stay with a friend he didn't have the address of, and then the meme was the last (albeit tiny) straw. My experience with CBP is that if you answer "wrong" (including saying that you only have the hotel name on your phone, which you are not allowed to check at the desk), then you need something "right", like a business card, to dig yourself out.
- tartoran 1y agoBased on?
- qoez 1y agoTo play devils advocate: I have a feeling the rules around what's allowed on social media according to these new rules are pretty vague and so whoever vetted this ended up being the judge in this case. I doubt jd vance made some memo about not allowing bald vance meme sharers from entering the country.
- platevoltage 1y agoDo you doubt that there was a memo sent out that instructed CPD to deny entry to anyone who has anything negative to say about the administration? Because that seems like exactly something this admin would do.
- platevoltage 1y ago*CBP
- 3hoss 1y agoMads Mikkelsen? I'm very skeptical that this is real, and kind of disappointed that HN is being so credulous.
- eesmith 1y agohttps://www.ssb.no/befolkning/navn/statistikk/navn https://www.ssb.no/befolkning/navn/statistikk/navn says there are 12 people in Norway with that name. Here's a footballer from Tromsø with that name: https://www.til.no/nyheter/mads-med-forste-proffkontrakt https://www.til.no/nyheter/mads-med-forste-proffkontrakt . He is 17 years old, so not the 21 year old mentioned here. Here is another Mads Mikkelsen in Tromsø. https://fjellet.dk/ https://fjellet.dk/
- strangecasts 1y agoHuh, I didn't know SSB let you do combined first/last name searches, I assumed it would only let you search the names individually (Is Tromsø where they keep all the spare Mads Mikkelsens??)
- affinepplan 1y agoSome People In The World Sometimes Have The Same Name As Each Other
- surgical_fire 1y agoSomething tells me that you are the kind of person that would put a unique constraint on a table for the combination of first_name and last_name.
- DocTomoe 1y agoMy employer has had a "no visiting the US with your real hardware, get a burner phone / a burner laptop from our IT department" for years now. The only other countries that have that kind of rule are Myanmar and Iran. The US is not a friendly country, not even to allies.
- qoez 1y agoHis name was "Mads Mikkelsen", like the actor? Either he gave a fake name or this story is made up.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- FeteCommuniste 1y agoThat's like saying a news story about an American was fake because his name was "Michael Jordan" or "David Robinson." Some names are really common.
- o_m 1y agoI don't understand this logic. It's a common Scandinavian name. It doesn't have to be either or.
- qoez 1y agoThe logic is pretty simple: I didn't know it was common :)
- sct202 1y agoBut here's a link to a local newspaper from his part of Norway: https://www.nordlys.no/mads-sin-drommereise-til-usa-spolert-pa-grunn-av-satirebilde-pa-mobilen/s/5-34-2171723 https://www.nordlys.no/mads-sin-drommereise-til-usa-spolert-... https://archive.ph/h3Uf4 https://archive.ph/h3Uf4 couldn't capture it well but you can see has his name is referenced as Mads Mikkelsen.
- strangecasts 1y agoIt would be quite a feat for the local paper [1] to interview him without realizing his name was fake! Mads and Mikkelsen are both common Norwegian names (SSB has >4000 Mads and Mikkelsens individually), and unless his parents were big Refn enthusiasts I don't think they would have been aware of the actor... [1] https://www.nordlys.no/mads-sin-drommereise-til-usa-spolert-pa-grunn-av-satirebilde-pa-mobilen/s/5-34-2171723 https://www.nordlys.no/mads-sin-drommereise-til-usa-spolert-...
- Havoc 1y agoLots of other countries to explore. I'll revisit this in 4 years by then we'll also know if US democracy is still a thing
- mvdtnz 1y agoI won't be reconsidering in four years. The American people have shown who they are. Like you say, plenty of other countries to visit.
- cs702 1y agoIs that the only reason why entrance was denied? Is this story real? I just checked, and nope, it's not April 1 yet. Does anyone here have addition information?
- affinepplan 1y agogotta love how credulous you people are to the most insane statements by this administration, and how skeptical you are of the most unsurprising events in the world. this just in: agency infamous for fragile egos and abuse of power got their ego bruised and abused their power.
- whalesalad 1y agoBased on the amount of vance memes in my photo reel, I would be sent to Guantanamo bay.
- virtualritz 1y agoIf Monty Python would be active today, this headline could have been a summary of a sketch of theirs. US politics is outpacing satire at an unprecedented ratio.
- jbverschoor 1y agoI hope liking every episode of puppetregime is allowed
- _lateralus_ 1y agolmao no shot this actually happened, or at least the meme was not the reason he was denied entry
- keerthiko 1y agofrom the article: > "They threatened me with a minimum fine of $5,000 or five years in prison if I refused to provide the password to my phone." this isn't real/legal/enforceable (as the law currently stands) is it? how does one protect ourselves against this turn of events upon entry when the immigration officer's claim fails the smell test?
- AdamN 1y ago?? This has been called out for more than a decade I think. Within 100 miles of the border CBP has broad discretion and rights are limited in these types of circumstances.
- anigbrowl 1y agoThe question is about the threat of a $5000 fine/5 years of prison, not whether CBP can conduct inspections.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- arlort 1y agoBy not travelling to the US if you're not willing to do it Don't see how it wouldn't be legal as long as the target of the request isn't a citizen
- ethan_smith 1y agoCBP has broad search authority at borders without warrants, and while they can't criminally charge you for refusing to unlock your device, they can deny entry, seize the device, and ban you from future entry - effectively making the "5 years in prison" threat misleading but the practical consequences still severe.
- brewdad 1y agoIn layman’s terms we don’t call that misleading. It is false. Perhaps an outright lie.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- BurningFrog 1y agoLet me just point out that the only source we have for this story is one angry Norwegian. The only verified fact is that he was denied entry.
- mpalmer 1y agoIt's pretty hard to corroborate a story like this. Everyone has to make their own judgment, but I cannot give the benefit of the doubt to the US government. What reason does this guy have to lie? If he was denied entry because of something actually illegal or non legit, why would he risk this exposure to make something up? If he wasn't denied entry and just decided to fly home and make up the lie, why pay for a vacation?
- JackFr 1y agoA reasonable news outlet would call CBP for a comment. Something like "attempts to reach CBP for comment were unsuccessful." goes a long way. It's a tell that they don't. The story is too good not to print.
- busterarm 1y agoCBP does comment on these when asked! The previous one of these that went around even has a Snopes page with paragraphs of comments from DHS officials.
- account42 1y agoThey have commented on this specific case, publicly: https://x.com/CBP/status/1937651325354795444 https://x.com/CBP/status/1937651325354795444
- airforce1 1y ago> What reason does this guy have to lie? It might not be 100% lies, it might be "based on a true story". The temptation to embellish/frame yourself as the faultless protagonist is instinctive and there are hundreds of examples of people doing it. Narrative shifts are super common in cases where facts are initially sparse and then more come to light... we don't have the whole context.
- keybored 1y agoThe difference between the US and North Korea is that there are Westerners who think they can travel to the US without risking getting harassed for apparently having mocked the administration of the country.
- Someone1234 1y agoIt is worth noting that the US has been doing digital device searches coming up to twenty years now. I had my phone searched back in the early 2000s, and my most recent US Visa required me to list all social media accounts. I've even read (but not experienced) reports of GrayKey or UFED being used to download someone's unlocked phone for offline analysis also. Your choices at the border are either: Unlock your phone and MAYBE get let in, or refuse which is best case a guaranteed entry refusal or worse case a 5 ban (for "non-cooperation" as inadmissibility reason). The US (and UK) treat non-citizens terribly at the border; even with zero history or justification. It is even worse for non-white Europeans.
- root_axis 1y agoA more recent development is that you might also risk jail for weeks.
- wffurr 1y agoDisable biometric unlock; you're not required to provide a passcode but you can be required to look at or touch the device. Cross with it turned off. I don't think the threat of a fine or jail time is real. Even if the agents said that, that's not an actual legal penalty they can apply. They can deny entry to someone on a visa, but they can't deny entry to a citizen or legal resident. They can keep your device, though. https://www.aclutx.org/en/news/can-border-agents-search-your-electronic-devices-its-complicated https://www.aclutx.org/en/news/can-border-agents-search-your... has a lot of good details.
- huslage 1y agoThat is not true for non-citizens. Our law is swiss cheese regarding that.
- Someone1234 1y agoI think you replied to the wrong comment. You're talking about citizen's rights and the comment you replied to is purely about non-citizens.
- snickerdoodle12 1y ago
- jwkerr 1y agoIs this a reputable source? Is it a coincidence that the subject shares the name Mads Mikkelsen, or is this just bad reporting?
- eesmith 1y agoCan you read Norwegian? https://www.nettavisen.no/nyheter/to-bilder-spolerte-drommeferien-til-mads-folte-meg-helt-javlig/s/5-95-2498594 https://www.nettavisen.no/nyheter/to-bilder-spolerte-drommef... and https://www.nordlys.no/mads-sin-drommereise-til-usa-spolert-pa-grunn-av-satirebilde-pa-mobilen/s/5-34-2171723 https://www.nordlys.no/mads-sin-drommereise-til-usa-spolert-... Coincidence.
- smaslennikov 1y agoA mad coincidence - I caught that as well.
- lobo_tuerto 1y agoAt least he was not detained and interrogated for it. Oh, wait...
- neilv 1y ago> He claims he was then strip-searched, forced to give blood samples, a facial scan and fingerprints. > "Later I was taken back in, and the situation got even worse. I was pushed up against a wall and was strip-searched with a lot of force. They were incredibly harsh and used physical force the whole time," he claimed. > "I felt completely devastated and broke down, and was close to crying several times. I was on the verge of panic. That sounds worse than being denied entry.
- BergAndCo 1y ago[flagged]
- mandmandam 1y agoYou don't seem to be responding to anything in the parent comment, but it's still worth pointing out: the "admitted drug use" was simply smoking weed while in California a few years ago.
- shadowtree 1y ago[flagged]
- queenkjuul 1y agoThe secret police would surely never lie about their motivations
- jldugger 1y ago> Mads Mikkelsen Small world?
- happytoexplain 1y agoSmall country, small pool of names.
- Mr_Eri_Atlov 1y ago"Comedy is legal again" Actually, comedy is specifically illegal now
- stego-tech 1y agoAll the bickering about the validity of this specific story and the “if you don’t like it don’t ever leave home to go anywhere ever” misses the crux of the issue that these articles are trying to raise: * Do we agree that a law enforcement arm of any country should be allowed to perform warrantless searches of electronic devices? * Do we find it acceptable that persons with critical views are denied entry to countries that profess protection of speech for its citizens? * If we find either of the above objectionable, what should we be doing to stop it? The reality is that this is on the rise, not just in the USA but globally, and we should be having frank discussions on whether this is acceptable or not given its repercussions. For context, despite my critique of an unnamed EMEA government, they’ve happily let me into their country repeatedly to do work for an employer, associate with my colleagues, and perform volunteer work within its borders. On the flip side, I have serious doubts about my ability to enter authoritarian regimes like China because of my outspoken critique of government policies, regardless of my intentions within their borders. This [broader issue] is what we should be discussing, not nuanced specifics over a single incident.
- docmars 1y agoAgreed, and well said. I think everyone's goal is (hopefully) to move away from as many double-standards around these types of incidents as possible, and level the playing field, in favor of liberty / freedom, assuming there will be a few odd anomalies needing special consideration. On paper, this incident could be one of those due to its nature as a border security issue, and I think it's safe to say that most (even those who support ICE) are viewing this as silly and unnecessary, at least in my circles.
- bananalychee 1y ago[flagged]
- Disposal8433 1y ago> which is something that actually happens in other countries Yes, but it's (IIRC) that it's so blatantly happening in the Land of the Free World where the first amendment of the constitution is touted as the best law ever written in history.
- ykdojo 1y agohttps://ie.trustpilot.com/review/dublinlive.ie https://ie.trustpilot.com/review/dublinlive.ie
- sys32768 1y agoArticle fails to explain why the image of him with a wooden pipe he made was so triggering to the border patrol agents. Why is this even on HN?
- discoutdynamite 1y agoThe other picture showed Mads with a wooden pipe which he had made years prior This is really why. Any evidence or suspicion of drug use or paraphenalia is a major offense. Even it they attempted to justify or explain it, its a major rejection criteria. Ive heard of several denials for suspicions of marijuana use, "DUDE WEED" memes and the like. They are really going hard on anything that looks like illicit substance use.
- whirlwin 1y agoThe US is becoming more and more like the Soviet union was at some point - truly authoritarian. The same would possibly also happen in China of you had a picture of Xi Jinping. It's fascinating that "the land of the free" has come to this.
- derelicta 1y agoSo much from the Greatest Republic on Earth
- legitster 1y agoThis story sounded a little suspicious, or at least incomplete. It never mentioned why he was singled out by the border agent. Also, ICE would probably not have been involved at all. I looked up the article in Norwegian Reddit and someone posted a link to this person's Youtube channel where he shoots guns and (apparently, as I don't speak the language) has made comments about the President. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC68cjx7WTYtXGhC3rLD3N4A https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC68cjx7WTYtXGhC3rLD3N4A This could be the long arms of Palantir scanning social media and identifying him as a person of interest. But also interesting is the response that Norway's Ministry of Foreign Affairs put out (I checked, this was in response to his specific case): > Entry regulations can change at short notice, and it is the traveller's responsibility to have valid documents and be familiar with the current entry regulations. It is the immigration authorities upon arrival who decide whether you are rejected at the border. Which seems to hint that the subject arrived in the US without proper paperwork.
- mvdtnz 1y agoIt sounds like when an article is possibly incomplete you just invent your own facts to fill in the gaps.
- snickerdoodle12 1y ago> Which seems to hint that the subject arrived in the US without proper paperwork. Ok, so help him fill out the proper paper work. At which point does this justify strip searching and assaulting someone?
- legitster 1y agoUnfortunately, this is common practice at nearly every border crossing for nearly every country (including Norway).
- snickerdoodle12 1y agoThey might turn you around, but they're not going to beat you up and strip search you for not having the right papers.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- OsrsNeedsf2P 1y ago> "They threatened me with a minimum fine of $5,000 or five years in prison if I refused to provide the password to my phone." I would write a witty message about how it seems like a good idea to put your phone in the carry-on luggage, but given they now ask for social media handles I don't think I will
- mvdtnz 1y agoUSA is a country I have always wanted to visit. No more. I will never set foot in your country simply because I refuse to deal with your border force. There are plenty of other countries out there that won't treat me like a criminal. Have you ever dealt with Japanese border staff? They could hardly be more grateful to welcome you.
- airforce1 1y ago...unless you run afoul of any of their many obscure laws, even unintentionally. I had a relative travel to Japan with his family. He's into locksport (watches Lock Picking Lawyer, etc). He had some lock picking paraphernalia on his person that he forgot about since he just carries it around 24/7 without thinking about it. Long story short, they were discovered in a metal detector at some point and Japanese security whisked him away to an interrogation room. He tried to explain locksport and youtube but the Japanese police were incredulous. He spent a full day in Japanese detention (leaving his wife and kids stranded in Tokyo without him) and at one point it was looking like he might be facing more serious charges, but then luckily someone from an American military base was able to bail him out somehow.
- mvdtnz 1y agoThis doesn't seem like an "obscure" law to me. In fact if this is a hobby of yours I would expect you to understand that it's not legal in a number of places.
- airforce1 1y agoIt was an honest mistake, especially for someone who rarely travels. It could happen to anyone in a country where possessing lock picks is not a criminal act. For example, your sibling might get you some picks in credit card form factor one year for Christmas. You put them in your wallet and forget about them. You travel a bit within the USA and nobody cares. Then years later you travel to Japan and are whisked away to jail because of a thing you forgot about in your wallet. The Japanese don't understand why an innocent civilian would ever have such a thing; therefore you must be a nefarious criminal.
- perihelions 1y agoI think the other story from earlier this week makes a better anchoring point for discussion[0], thought it's obvious why it was less successful (long-form New Yorker article vs. one funny picture—the funny picture *usually* wins. This is the internet). It's a lot clearer fact-pattern: >"“Look, we both know why you are here,” the agent told me. He identified himself to me as Adam, though his colleagues referred to him as Officer Martinez. When I said that I didn’t, he looked surprised. “It’s because of what you wrote online about the protests at Columbia University,” he said." [0] https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/how-my-reporting-on-the-columbia-protests-led-to-my-deportation https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/how-my-reporting-on-... ("How My Reporting on the Columbia Protests Led to My Deportation") https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44318330 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44318330
- platevoltage 1y agoI have a question, what if you show up with a freshly restored phone, or a dumb phone, or no phone at all? What if you're like me and have closed all of your social media accounts except Linked-in, that you're only on because you have to be? Would you be looked at with suspicion at this point?
- arewethereyeta 1y agoCharlie Hebdo
- pvtmert 1y agotl:dr; remove memes before entering to the US. welcome to the most free country in the world. > Mathias Rongved, a spokesperson at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has warned fellow Norwegians that it is their duty to be clued up on US regulations before entering the country. "Most trips to the US go without any particular problems," he said. > "Entry regulations can change at short notice, and it is the traveller's responsibility to have valid documents and be familiar with the current entry regulations. It is the immigration authorities upon arrival who decide whether you are rejected at the border. Norwegian authorities cannot intervene in this decision.
- mensetmanusman 1y agoLooking further into the story from other sources commenting and there are no other corroborating sources. Have been lied to too many times by the media with stories like these to believe them at first glance.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- cadamsdotcom 1y agoThe job of border control people is risky as hell. Let in the wrong person, and they’ll trace it back to you. Deny the right person and you can spin it as patriotism. There’s no recourse if you’re uncertain. You can’t wave over a manager - you’re expected to process the huge queue with more piling in all day. You work multiple long shifts per week. In a single shift you make thousands of decisions with huge impact to your life going forward - huge downsides for mistakes. When you make 1000 decisions in a shift, even a 0.1% error rate is one wrong decision per shift! And even if you are a nice person, you need to keep your job. When your biggest boss has an unsympathetic streak, you tip more into “my mistakes will be punished” mode.
- airforce1 1y agoSurprised this story has not been flagged as it's essentially political flamebait - an uncorroborated, unverifiable account from a single person trashing the current US administration and causing everyone to pile on their hot takes and equally unverifiable and possibly embellished anecdotes.
- SV_BubbleTime 1y agoJustifies the popular ideology here. Why would it need evidence or corroboration? The bubble has decided.
- Vortigaunt 1y agoIsn't it interesting how this post has more votes than anything else on the first page, is one hour old, and is currently on page 4. Seems like there's some interesting censorship going on in this website outside the consistent flagging of material deemed wrong-think.
- tasuki 1y agoI kind of get all the other stuff, horrid, yes, but ok: US is a barbarian state. But what is it with refusing water? Hydration is extremely important. I'm never voluntarily going near any situation which could result in me being refused water.
- jay-barronville 1y agoAs someone who supported the current administration primarily due to their stated position on protecting free speech and fighting censorship, I find this story disgusting. I consider our First Amendment here in the U.S. to be the best and most unique thing about our country. I hated watching previous administrations step all over it, but in my opinion, the current administration is already proving to be objectively worse for the simple fact that they pretended to actually care about free speech only to pretty quickly start cracking down on speech they don’t like (e.g., see the Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk cases—Öztürk’s case, in particular, is extremely egregious). As frustrating as it was when the Biden regime was cracking down on speech they didn’t like, at least they didn’t pretend to actually care about free speech. Running on a free speech platform and then implementing North Korea-style speech policies is such a massive betrayal. On a separate note, border agents being able to force you (anyone, including U.S. citizens) to give them access to your devices has been a problem for a long time and certainly should be illegal. When traveling internationally, you should either (1) leave your personal devices behind or (2) back up your personal devices to an encrypted drive (a tiny SD Card is ideal) and factory reset them. I know the EFF has been fighting that issue for a while and I’m hoping that at some point in the near future, border agents will be prohibited from forcing folks to give access to their devices.
- NorwegianDude 1y agoI had planned a trip that included the US for this summer, but the fact that they can demand the password for my devices is the main reason im not going. Having to wipe devices before travel and having to download data again because people dont respect privacy and others suck. The fact that you have to get approved before traveling(that is fine), and then can be denied entry when you arrive for no logical reason is absurd. Visiting the US is simply not worth the risk and hassle. Its crazy when you expect your privacy to be more respected in China.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- hackerbeat 1y agoThe US is gone. Stay away!
- ehehe 1y agoRemember that talk about fake candidates from north korea which will immediately fall off the interview when you ask them "how fat is kim jong un"? I have a new one for american applicants - how fat is JD Vance??
- docmars 1y agoUpdate: this story was debunked and is false, according to CBP directly: https://x.com/CBP/status/1937651325354795444 https://x.com/CBP/status/1937651325354795444
- matsemann 1y agoDebunked is a strong word. Why trust CBP more than this person? It's not like the current government is known for never lying.
- docmars 1y agoI wish people could have applied this thinking to the last administration for even more heinous attacks on free speech, hehe. The media has proven itself to lie more around the nature of these controversies before seeking a credible source to begin with. That should be more concerning here, I think. In any case, I think with CBP here, it's either take it or leave it.
- BergAndCo 1y agohttps://x.com/CBP/status/1937651325354795444 https://x.com/CBP/status/1937651325354795444 > Fact Check: FALSE > Mads Mikkelsen was not denied entry for any memes or political reasons, it was for his admitted drug use.
- BrandoElFollito 1y agoI used to travel all over the world from mid 90's to late 00's. Including about once a month to the US from Europe and Asia. I am French, white, blue-eyed, it was business travel in business or first class. I never understood why the US border was so hostile to visitors. Equal to the Russian border if not worse. The US used to be an immigrants country, built by these immigrants. So why the hostility against foreigners? Their parents or grand parents were in the same spot, usually way worse wealth-wise. Middle East entries were the best - sometimes slow, chaotic but always enjoyable. Europe was with bored agents who did not give a shit. After one last trip my children begged for (the landscapes in the US are indeniably wonderful) I stopped going to the US, mostly because of a vague fear of being arrested for no reason. I felt like in a dictatorship country (but worse than in the ME where there predicability). In Europe you can get in trouble, but it is soft. You have to fight the bureaucracy but that's more or less all.
- whamlastxmas 1y agoI don’t understand why progressive people who are against body shaming and judging people by appearances suddenly don’t give a shit about their values at all the second it’s a human they don’t like. Don’t get me wrong, Trump et all fucking suck, but it doesn’t excuse things like fat shaming
- computerthings 1y ago[dead]
- Friedduck 1y agoFree speech is dead. In case we’re keeping track.