The JD Vance meme on the Norwegian’s cellphone. Credit score: Fb, Nordlys
A 21-year-old Norwegian vacationer who claimed he was deported from the US for having a meme of Vice President JD Vance on his cellphone was truly turned away for admitting previous drug use, US authorities have confirmed.
The incident at Newark Airport on June 11 has gone viral, prompting officers to disclaim the meme had something to do together with his elimination.
Meme declare dismissed by US border authorities
Mads Mikkelsen, who’s not the Danish actor of the identical title, informed Norwegian outlet Nordlys he was detained at Newark Airport throughout what was meant to be a vacation within the US. He claimed border brokers interrogated him about terrorism, right-wing extremism, and drug smuggling, after which pressured him to unlock his cellphone after threatening him with a $5,000 effective or 5 years in jail.
In accordance with Mikkelsen, officers discovered a meme on his cellphone depicting US Vice President JD Vance as bald, which he believed was the rationale for being denied entry and despatched again to Norway that very same day.
Nonetheless, the US Customs and Border Safety (CBP) issued a blunt rebuttal:
“Truth Examine: FALSE,” the CBP wrote on X. “Mads Mikkelsen was not denied entry for any memes or political causes, it was for his admitted drug use” (Cited by The Impartial).
Homeland Safety deputy secretary Tricia McLaughlin echoed CBP’s assertion, calling the story “false” and “BS” in her personal put up on X.
Mikkelsen later acknowledged to Nordlys that border brokers did query him about previous drug use and famous that they had discovered one other photograph on his cellphone exhibiting a wood pipe he had made. He additionally claimed he was pressured to present a blood pattern whereas in custody.
Regardless of conflicting accounts about why the cellphone was searched within the first place, each Mikkelsen and US officers agree the border encounter occurred. However whereas Mikkelsen insists the meme triggered his deportation, U.S. Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) maintains it was on account of his drug-related admissions.
Below President Donald Trump, the DHS has expanded its energy over immigration enforcement. In April, it introduced new insurance policies requiring visa candidates to make their social media profiles public and permitting brokers to display for “antisemitic exercise.”
Ought to guests concern digital surveillance at US borders?
As experiences of cellphone checks and ideological profiling develop, the place is the road between authentic safety and invasive censorship?
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