A Norwegian tourist has claimed he was denied access to the US because a JD Vance meme was found on his phone.
Mads Mikkelsen, 21, told his hometown newspaper Nordlys that he had been pressured into handing over his phone at Newark Airport, New Jersey, where he had landed to visit friends in New York City.
Mikkelsen said he had been subjected to “abuse of power and harassment” by officials, who he claimed quizzed him about “drug trafficking, terrorist plots, and right-wing extremism.”
He told Nordlys he was then taken to a holding cell “with several armed guards, where I had to hand over my shoes, mobile phone, and backpack.”
Officials then apparently threatened to imprison him or fine him $5,000 if he did not grant them access to his phone. When he handed over his device, agents uncovered a meme that showed a digitally-altered picture of JD Vance.
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The image, which was a viral meme earlier this year after Volodymyr Zelensky’s Oval Office visit, showed the vice president chubbier, bald, and cartoonish.
“Both pictures had been automatically saved to my camera roll from a chat app, but I really didn’t think that these innocent pictures would put a stop to my entry into the country,” Mikkelsen said.
The agents are then said to have searched the Norwegian and taken his fingerprints and blood sample, despite Mikkelsen pleading with them that the photo was just a joke.
He said the experience made him feel “like a terrorist suspect.”
“They demanded full information about everyone I was going to meet in the U.S., including name, address, phone number, and what they did for work,” Mikkelsen told Nordlys
He said he was then placed on a flight back to Norway the same day he had landed in New Jersey.
Since Donald Trump came into power this year, there have been a number of reports of tourists having problems entering the US amid a border force crackdown.
In February, an American citizen and her German fiancé were detained in San Diego when they returned to the country following a visit to Mexico.
A Welsh backpacker ended up being held for almost three weeks at a land crossing between the US and Canada in spring, whilst another German was detained for a month and a half, including eight days in solitary confinement, under suspicion of intent to work.