It really disgusts me to post this, but spend your vacation elsewhere.
Why Are Germans Being Detained by US Immigration?
DW asks Why Are Germans Being Detained by US Immigration?
Immigration officials in the United States are known for being aggressive, even combative, during routine passport checks at the country’s borders. However, citizens of the European Union are ostensibly allowed to travel to the US visa-free for 90 days, provided they fill out an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) form and pass the related background check.
So why have four German nationals been detained for weeks on end by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since the beginning of 2025?
Green Card Holder Held Without Charge
“I feel helpless,” Astrid Senior told local media in Boston after her son, Fabian Schmidt, was detained at Logan Airport on March 7. Senior and Schmidt aren’t even tourists, they are Green Card holders — lawful permanent residents of the US — having lived in the country since 2007.
Schmidt, 34, was interrogated “for hours” his mother said, after returning from a visit to Germany and being told simply that his Green Card had been flagged.
She said her son was deprived of sleep, food and water, and had his anxiety medication withheld. His condition worsened to the point that he had to be taken to a local hospital.
While ICE confirmed the hospital visit, they told US media they could not comment further on the case for legal reasons. Schmidt’s lawyer, David Keller, has said in press statements that neither he nor his client have been told why he is being held.
John Gihon of the American Immigration Lawyers Association told DW that there is no legal limit for how long someone can be held in ICE detention without being made aware of formal charges. “In the past, ICE had a policy of serving charging documents within 72 hours. However, that policy appears to no longer be in place,” he said.
Tourists Detained for Weeks
Lucas Sielaff, a 25-year-old from the eastern German town of Bad Bibra, told Der Spiegel magazine about a similarly harrowing experience earlier this month. He was released after two weeks, and deported to Germany.
“I was angry, sad, and afraid,” Sielaff told the outlet, describing what happened during a trip to visit his American fiancee, who lives in the western state of Nevada, one of many trips he has taken in recent years. The pair decided to take her sick dog to a veterinarian in Mexico, where appointments are easier to get. Sielaff described a tense interrogation at the border on the way back, saying he suspected the border patrol officer assumed he was living unlawfully in the US, trying to skirt the 90-day regulation by taking the short trip out of the country.
Sielaff said he was shackled around his stomach and feet and brought to an ICE detention center in California, where he was put in a cell with 128 other men. On March 6, after two weeks without being told anything about his case, he was put on a flight to Munich.
His case was similar to that of Jessica Brösche, a Berlin-based tattoo artist who was in ICE detention for two weeks earlier this year. Brösche was trying to cross into the US from Mexico on January 15, when an officer said he found tattooing equipment in her bag and suspected her of trying to work illegally in the US. She was deported to Germany after six weeks’ detention.
Celine Flad, 22, is another German who found herself at the mercy of an unclear border situation when she tried to go on vacation in New York and Miami. The university student told Der Spiegel that despite having a valid passport and an ESTA waiver, she was told there was a “problem” with her passport. She was held for 24 hours, during which she was repeatedly asked why she wanted to enter the US. Flad added that the officers took her smartphone and searched through her pictures.
Despite showing officials her hotel bookings in New York and Miami, and her flight tickets on to Cancun, Mexico, she was told she was being sent back to Germany as soon as possible. She was never told what the issue was.
Berlin Issues Travel Advisory
The four Germans are hardly the only tourists and US residents who have found themselves caught in a Kafkaesque situation with ICE following US President Donald Trump’s recent crackdown on immigration. Trump has even tried to invoke an 18th century law to imprison more immigrants, but that move was struck down by a court.
Travelers from other countries with visa-free travel to the US, like Canada and France, have reported similar incidents at the country’s borders.
The situation has gotten to the point where the Foreign Ministry in Berlin has issued an advisory to its citizens planning a trip to the US, stressing that holding a US visa or entry waiver does not guarantee access for German citizens.
British Tourist Detained in US After Visa Mix-Up Returns to UK
The Guardian reports British Tourist Detained in US After Visa Mix-Up Returns to UK
A British woman detained in the US for three weeks because of a visa mix-up has reportedly arrived back in the UK.
Sky News broadcast images of Rebecca Burke, 28, a graphic artist from Monmouthshire, being welcomed at Heathrow airport by a loved one. Her return to the UK comes after her family confirmed she had been released from a immigration detention centre.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesman said: “We supported a British national who was detained in the USA and were in contact with the local authorities.”
Burke was trying to cross into the US state of Washington from Canada when she was refused entry. Canadian authorities told her to go back to the US and fill in new paperwork before returning.
However, when she tried to re-enter the US, she was handcuffed and put in a cell before being taken to the Tacoma Northwest detention facility.
Her father, Paul Burke, previously said she was being held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “in horrendous conditions” and had not had access to legal representation.
More Countries Telling Their Citizens Not to Travel to the U.S.
The Street reports More Countries Telling Their Citizens Not to Travel to the U.S.
Amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and ensuing detention of multiple tourists at various borders, multiple countries are now warning their citizens to be careful when traveling to the U.S.
The German Ministry issued a warning reminding citizens that neither a U.S. visa nor an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) designation can guarantee admission into the country or the absence of problems at the border. An ESTA is obtained by tourists who are coming into the U.S. for short stays.
Global Affairs Canada also warned Canadians traveling to the U.S. to familiarize themselves with any updates to immigration rules before travel.
Just Don’t Come
I never thought I would see the day when foreign nations issue travel advisories on the entire US.
You may be detained for weeks without being charged with anything.
Yes, that’s rare. But there should be zero instances of UK and EU citizens being detained for weeks without being charged with anything.
My advice is just don’t come. Vacation somewhere else.
And if you are here on a green card, don’t leave and expect to get back in.
If you are not disgusted by this, then you are disgusting.
Reader Addendum
I am an Australian. I work in corporate finance and banking. I visited the USA last year to participate in the Boston Marathon. I travelled with my partner (we are a CIS couple). We had an ESTA visa. I have travelled to the US a number of times over 30 years. Partner has travelled twice to the US. We had return flights. We had all accommodation prebooked. We had spending money and credit cards with generous limits.
We flew from Australia to LA where we were planning a six hour layover before catching an overnight flight to Boston. We arrived in LA and spent two hours in the line to clear immigration/passports.
We finally got to present our passports to the immigration officer. He looked at the documents, handed partner’s passports to her, retained mine and instructed me to wait. With now less than three hours to connecting flight we asked how long I would wait. No idea he said.
Partner went to collect bags. I was escorted to a large room, crammed with people like me. Told to sit. Not to speak to anyone else and not to touch the phone. Three hours later I was released with no explanation. Partner then in a huge panic. Missed the flight. Airport shut down. No assistance from anyone anywhere.
We did eventually get to Boston. Lost more than a day of our trip.
And we have sworn never to visit the USA again.
I looked up CIS. It means you claim to be the sex assigned at birth.
A “cis couple” refers to a romantic or intimate relationship where both individuals identify as cisgender, meaning their gender identity aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth. [Not transgender]
Addendum II
@lemondefr reports that a French research traveling to the United States for a conference was denied entry by CBP because a border agent searched his phone and found comments criticizing President Trump.