Border checks hit Aussies hard

Welcome to the US – but don’t have a nice stay

AUSTRALIANS have told horror stories of aggressive interrogation at the US border as President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown begins to bite.

Brisbane compliance director Jinda Baikham, 32, said she felt “very violated” after being challenged at the US border in Hawaii for having visited Iran for a holiday years before.

Ms Baikham flew into Hawaii earlier this year on her fourth visit for a trip with her mother, father and three sisters. She had declared the Iranian trip, but when a customs officer saw the stamp on her passport she was escorted to a room and interrogated for three hours.

“I was told nothing. I had to sit and watch an officer go through my entire phone at the counter for over an hour,” she said.

“Every now and then, he would ask who certain people were, like texts from my sister, and he commented that I have a lot of photos of my dog. After he went through everything on my phone, he decided there was nothing threatening on my phone against America.”

She was eventually allowed into the country, but she’s unlikely to return.

“I felt very violated,” she said. “I now feel like I can’t make my annual trip to Waikiki Beach.”

“Julie” said she was “traumatised” after trying to enter the US via Los Angeles with a J-1 visa, but without a particular form she was unaware she needed.

“You would’ve thought I was a criminal,” she said.

Although her partner was allowed through, Julie spent three hours in a holding area, “the first two and a half of these with no explanation, interaction or any idea of what was going on”.

“Finally when someone called me through, I was yelled at for a good 10 to 15 minutes, asking where my form was – I had told them repeatedly – and that I needed to get someone from Australia to fax them one straight away, being 1am Queensland time,” she said.

“At this whole stage they were yelling – not just discussing like rational people. I basically just needed to fill out a form with my personal details and send it back in before 30 days. I’m still slightly traumatised ... I don’t think I will return.”

Another Australian, who declined to be named, fell afoul of the crackdown in February after his B1-B2 visitor visa expired and his application for an E-3 working visa was rejected.

Flying home from Mexico to Sydney via California, he was pulled up for being in the US on an expired visa.

“When they did the pat-down, the guard kicked my feet apart with enough force to almost knock me over,” he said.

He was held in a room for hours where 20 people were forced to share three beds and where access to a toilet required permission.

“We were forced to sleep with the lights on, only fed two-minute noodles and water, but only when requested, and when requested met with great attitude,” he said.

“If you asked for any info, you were basically told to shut up and wait your turn.

“They called others who were detained derogatory names, some bordering on racism.”

Other readers report lengthy delays in having visa applications approved since Mr Trump’s election.

The guard kicked my feet apart with enough force to almost knock me over.