An Australian writer says he was refused entry to the United States after being interrogated about his views on the Israel-Gaza war and articles he had penned on university protests.
Alistair Kitchen, 33, was travelling to New York on Thursday to visit friends when he was detained for 12 hours at Los Angeles International Airport, before being put on a flight back to Melbourne.
Mr Kitchen told the ABC he was pulled from the line at customs and taken to a backroom where his phone was seized.
“We both know why you’re here,” a border agent said, according to Mr Kitchen.
“It’s because of what you wrote online.“
When Mr Kitchen was a student at Columbia University in New York last year, he covered pro-Palestinian rallies on campus on his personal blog.
“The officer that detained me said explicitly to me, ‘The reason we have detained you is because of what you have written on the internet about the protests at Columbia’,” Mr Kitchen said.
Mr Kitchen covered pro-Palestinian rallies while he was a student at Columbia University. (Supplied: Alistair Kitchen)
‘I did it out of stress and fear’
For 45 minutes, Mr Kitchen said he was “interrogated” about his views on the conflict in the Middle East.
“I was asked what I thought of Israel, what I thought of Palestine, what I thought of Hamas, what I thought of the students protesting,” he said.
“[I was asked] whether I have Jewish friends, whether I have Muslim friends, how I would resolve the conflict in the Middle East.”
Mr Kitchen said he was asked a plethora of questions about the conflict in the Middle East. (Supplied: Alistair Kitchen)
Mr Kitchen said he then “made the mistake” of giving an officer his phone passcode, the content of which was downloaded by border agents.
“I did it out of stress and fatigue and fear,” he said.
“[The officer] came out triumphantly and said, ‘We found evidence on your phone, Mr Kitchen, of prior drug use’.”
As Mr Kitchen had not declared drug use on his Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) form, he said he was accused of misrepresenting himself.
“I was panicked, afraid of this man, afraid of the entire situation,”
he said.
“I told him that, ‘Yes, I have consumed drugs before. I lived in New York for six years where marijuana is legal. I’ve bought weed at dispensaries in the US.'”
“A question on a form that, I think we all know millions of Australians have answered in the same way as I have answered, was used as justification for making sure I didn’t get back on US soil.”
Pro-Palestinian rallies were held at Columbia University last year. (Supplied: Alistair Kitchen)
‘I wouldn’t wish it on anyone’
Mr Kitchen was taken to immigration detention until he could be booked on a flight home.
“I wouldn’t wish it on anyone,” he said.
He described a basement with “fluorescent buzzing bulbs”, a television, some instant noodles in a cup, and a guard.
“Men and women are separated. You’re not allowed to talk to each other. But most difficult is that you don’t know how long you’re gonna be in there,” he said.
The Australian man was asked his thoughts about the protesting students. (Supplied: Alistair Kitchen)
“There was a woman bawling her eyes out, begging in the guard, ‘Please just tell me how long I’m gonna be in here’.
“He looked at her, with no sympathy, and said, ‘I don’t have any information for you’.”
The guard, according to Mr Kitchen, gestured to another woman, who was covered in blankets in the corner of the room, and said she had been there for four days.
The ABC requested comment from US Customs and Border Protection.
Phone and passport held
Eventually, Mr Kitchen was allowed to call the Australian consulate, which informed his mother of his detention but could not say when he would be sent home.
Even after Mr Kitchen’s flight, he was not allowed to get his phone back until more than 14 hours later when the Qantas plane he was on arrived in Melbourne on Saturday.
“I was hoping desperately to be able to call my mum, text my mum, text the people I was meant to stay with in New York,”
he said.
“Instead, the phone was handed over to the lead flight attendant on my flight who told me that she would hang onto the phone and my passport until we landed in Australia.”
“The consulate said the attendant may give it back to you on the flight or they may choose to hold onto it, and we don’t know when they choose and why they don’t.”
The Australian writer said he would not wish what he went through on anyone. (ABC News: Simon Tucci)
Qantas declined to comment. The ABC understands US border agents handed airline staff a sealed envelope.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said it provided consular assistance to an Australian denied entry into the US.
“Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment,” a DFAT spokesperson said.
Travel advice updated
Just days ago, DFAT updated its advice for Australians travelling to the US to stress that entry requirements were “strict”.
“US authorities have broad powers to decide if you’re eligible to enter and may determine that you are inadmissible for any reason under US law,” DFAT’s Smartraveller website reads.
“US officials may ask to inspect travellers’ electronic devices, emails, text messages or social media accounts.”
On Monday, Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles said he was unaware of Mr Kitchen’s interrogation and said he was not going to “speculate” about what was happening at the US border.
“Our relationship with the United States is a profoundly important one. Our alliance remains the cornerstone of our strategic policy and our foreign policy and we very much look forward to the meeting between the prime minister and the president,” Mr Marles said.
“We have freedom of speech in this country and that’s a very important part of our nation,” he said.
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