Seems the German teens who planned to backpack acrss Hawaii didn’t have a detailed itinerary of where they planned to stay each night. For that they were put in handcuffs, “strip searched, had full body scans, and were handed green prison uniforms” before being held in rudimentary and filthy holding cells.
“News like that will certainly do wonders for Hawaiian tourism industry,” wrote one Twitter user sarcastically.
According to the US International Trade Administration, travel from Germany is down 28.2% from last year. “Goldman Sachs Group Inc. estimates in a worst-case scenario, the hit this year from reduced travel and boycotts could total 0.3% of gross domestic product, which would amount to almost $90 billion.”
Source: Daily Mail
A pair of young German travelers were left shocked after they arrived in Hawaii only to be detained and deported due to their loosely planned trip.
Charlotte Pohl, 19, and Maria Lepere, 18, arrived in Honolulu to begin their trip but were grilled extensively by Customs and Border Protection.
The pair planned to explore before traveling on to California and Costa Rica, but they hadn’t booked any accommodation for their five-week stay in Hawaii.
It was the lack of planning that alerted CBP, despite the pair having obtained ESTA travel authorization, German news outlet Ostee-Zeitung originally reported.
The two were accused of potential illegal work intentions and, after hours of questioning, they were placed in handcuffs and taken to what they later found to be a deportation detention center, Beat of Hawaii reported.
Their experience was described as shocking and surreal, according to the outlet, after they were strip searched, had full body scans, and were handed green prison uniforms.
Conditions in the facility were said to have left them sleeping on moldy mattresses, rudimentary toilet facilities, and being warned by guards to avoid eating expired food.
The following morning, the young travelers were taken back to Honolulu airport and deported.
Pohl and Lepere requested deportation to Japan.
The German Foreign Office then later reminded travelers that ESTA approval does not always grant access to the United States, and that border officers may still not allow entry.
2 female German tourists, 18 and 19 y.o., were detained in Honolulu for a terrible ‘crime’ of not pre-booking a hotel for their trip. Before deportation, they had to spend the night at the detention center.News like that will certainly do wonders for Hawaiian tourism industry🤡 pic.twitter.com/MCixNk1wX9
— RitorFella🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@RitornellaNYC) April 20, 2025
