A 21-year-old Norwegian tourist, Mads Mikkelsen, says he was detained for five hours by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at Newark Airport after arriving for a vacation to visit friends in New York and Austin. According to Mikkelsen, the trouble began when CBP agents found a digitally altered meme on his phone mocking U.S. Vice President JD Vance with a bald, egg-shaped head.
Mikkelsen alleges that officers threatened him with a $5,000 fine if he refused to unlock his phone and proceeded to question him on issues ranging from drug use to terrorism and extremism. He described the encounter as humiliating, involving a strip-search, fingerprinting, blood sampling, and a full search of his luggage. Ultimately, he was denied entry and sent back to Norway.
However, CBP has denied that the meme played any role in the decision. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the agency stated:
“Fact Check: FALSE. Mads Mikkelsen was not denied entry for any memes or political reasons. It was for his admitted drug use.”
Mikkelsen reportedly informed CBP officials that he had legally used cannabis in Germany and New Mexico. Despite the legality of cannabis in those jurisdictions, U.S. federal law allows immigration officers to deny entry based on prior drug use, even in the absence of any criminal conviction.
The Department of Homeland Security echoed CBP’s statement, reaffirming that the meme was not a factor in the denial of entry.
Also, CBP documents given to Mikkelsen indicated concerns that he might attempt to seek unauthorized employment during his stay, further supporting their decision to remove him.
Mikkelsen called the experience traumatic and declared he would not return to the U.S. “while the current government is in power.” CBP emphasized that digital device searches are rare, occurring in fewer than 0.01% of all traveler inspections.
(This story is published from a syndicated feed)