A vacation can turn into a nightmare for all kinds of reasons — missed flights, lost luggage, or even a questionable hotel booking.
But for two international travelers trying to visit the U.S., the nightmare began at the border — and it had nothing to do with logistics.
Instead, both claim they were denied entry because of what was on their phones or what they believe.
Norwegian Tourist Claims He Was Sent Home Over a Meme
Mads Mikkelsen, a 21-year-old tourist from Norway, arrived at Newark Airport in New Jersey on June 11, eager to kick off a summer holiday in the States.
But things went downhill fast.
According to Mikkelsen, U.S. border officials pulled him aside soon after landing and placed him in a holding cell.
Speaking to Norwegian outlet Nordlys, he described the experience as nothing short of harassment and an “abuse of power.”
He said the questioning quickly escalated to bizarre and unrelated accusations.
“They asked me about drug trafficking, terrorism, and right-wing extremism,” Mikkelsen said. “It made no sense.”
The Meme That Might Have Ended His Trip
Eventually, officers demanded he unlock his phone.
Mikkelsen claims they threatened him with a $5,000 fine or up to five years in prison if he refused to hand over his password. Reluctantly, he complied.
While scanning through his phone, officers reportedly found a meme saved on his camera roll — an altered image of U.S. Vice President JD Vance with a bald, egg-shaped head.
That image, he says, seemed to seal his fate.
After viewing the meme, the authorities allegedly made a swift decision: he was denied entry and sent back to Norway on the same day.
Australian Writer Says He Was Barred Over Political Beliefs
A day later, on June 12, another international visitor faced a similar ordeal.
Alistair Kitchen, a 33-year-old writer from Australia, was traveling from Melbourne to New York with plans to visit friends. But during a layover in Los Angeles, he too was stopped by border agents.
Kitchen said he was held for 12 hours at LAX and eventually told he would not be allowed to enter the country.
He believes the interrogation centered on his political views, specifically regarding the Gaza conflict and his past reporting on pro-Palestinian protests.
DHS Denies Politics Played a Role
Kitchen, who previously lived in the U.S. for six years and studied at Columbia University, wrote about the incident in The Sydney Morning Herald.
He said border agents questioned him extensively about last year’s protests at Columbia and his personal opinions on the war in Gaza.
“I told them I believe the war is a tragedy that must end immediately, and that one side — the dominant one — has the power to stop the violence,” he said.
Despite his claims, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has pushed back, saying the decision to deny him entry had nothing to do with his political beliefs.
According to DHS, the suggestion that he was blocked for ideological reasons is “unequivocally false.”
A Growing Pattern or Isolated Incidents?
While both Mikkelsen and Kitchen had very different backgrounds — one a tourist with a meme, the other a writer with strong political views — their experiences have raised larger questions about how U.S. border agents are making decisions about who gets in and who doesn’t.
Are memes and opinions grounds for exclusion? And how much privacy can travelers expect at the border?
For now, both men are back in their home countries, reflecting on vacations that ended before they even began.
Whether their stories represent isolated misjudgments or part of a wider pattern remains to be seen — but they’ve certainly sparked debate.