Detentions of European tourists at US borders spark fears of traveling
to America
[March 21, 2025]
By JULIE WATSON
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Lennon Tyler and her German fiancé often took road
trips to Mexico when he vacationed in the United States since it was
only a day's drive from her home in Las Vegas, one of the perks of their
long-distance relationship.
But things went terribly wrong when they drove back from Tijuana last
month.
U.S. border agents handcuffed Tyler, a U.S. citizen, and chained her to
a bench, while her fiancé, Lucas Sielaff, was accused of violating the
rules of his 90-day U.S. tourist permit, the couple said. Authorities
later handcuffed and shackled Sielaff and sent him to a crowded U.S.
immigration detention center. He spent 16 days locked up before being
allowed to fly home to Germany.
Since President Donald Trump took office, there have been other
high-profile incidents of tourists like Sielaff being stopped at U.S.
border crossings and held for weeks at U.S. immigration detention
facilities before being allowed to fly home at their own expense.
They include another German tourist who was stopped at the Tijuana
crossing on Jan. 25. Jessica Brösche spent over six weeks locked up,
including over a week in solitary confinement, a friend said.
On the Canadian border, a backpacker from Wales spent nearly three weeks
at a detention center before flying home this week. And a Canadian woman
on a work visa detained at the Tijuana border spent 12 days in detention
before returning home last weekend.
Sielaff, 25, and the others say it was never made clear why they were
taken into custody even after they offered to go home voluntarily.
Pedro Rios, director of the American Friends Service Committee, a
nonprofit that aids migrants, said in the 22 years he has worked on the
border he has never seen travelers from Western Europe and Canada,
longtime U.S. allies, locked up like this.
“It’s definitely unusual with these cases so close together, and the
rationale for detaining these people doesn’t make sense,” he said. “It
doesn’t justify the abhorrent treatment and conditions” they endured.
“The only reason I see is there is a much more fervent anti-immigrant
atmosphere," Rios said.
U.S. authorities did not respond to a request from The Associated Press
for figures on how many tourists have been held at detention facilities
or explain why they weren't simply denied entry.
The incidents are fueling anxiety as the Trump administration prepares
for a ban on travelers from some countries. Noting the “evolving”
federal travel policies, the University of California, Los Angeles sent
a notice this week urging its foreign-born students and staff to
consider the risks of non-essential travel for spring break, warning
“re-entry requirements may change while you are away, impacting your
return.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in an email to the AP that
Sielaff and Brösche, who was held for 45 days, “were deemed
inadmissible” by Customs and Border Protection. That agency said it
cannot discuss specifics but “if statutes or visa terms are violated,
travelers may be subject to detention and removal." The agencies did not
comment on the other cases.
Both German tourists were allowed into the United States under a waiver
program offered to a select group of countries, mostly in Europe and
Asia, whose citizens are allowed to travel to the U.S. for business or
leisure for up to 90 days without getting a visa in advance. Applicants
register online with the Electronic System for Travel Authorization.
But even if they are authorized to travel under that system, they can
still be barred from entering the country.
Sielaff arrived in the U.S. on Jan. 27. He and Tyler decided to go to
Tijuana for four days in mid-February because Tyler's dog needed surgery
and veterinary services are cheaper there. They figured they would enjoy
some tacos and make a fun trip out of it.
“Mexico is a wonderful and beautiful country that Lucas and I love to
visit,” Tyler said.
They returned Feb. 18, just 22 days into Sielaff's 90-day tourist
permit.
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Vehicles wait in line to cross the border into the United States at
the San Ysidro Port of Entry, Tuesday, March 18, 2025, in Tijuana,
Mexico. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)
When they pulled up to the crossing, the U.S. border agent asked
Sielaff aggressively, “Where are you going? Where do you live?”
Tyler said.
“English is not Lucas' first language and so he said, ‘We’re going
to Las Vegas,' and the agent says, ’Oh, we caught you. You live in
Las Vegas. You can't do that,'" Tyler said, recounting what
happened.
Sielaff was taken away for more questioning. Tyler said she asked to
go with him or if he could get a translator and was told to be
quiet, then taken out of her car and handcuffed and chained to a
bench. Her dog, recovering from surgery, was left in the car.
After four hours, Tyler was allowed to leave but said she was given
no information about her fiancé’s whereabouts.
During questioning, Sielaff said he told authorities he never lived
in the U.S. and had no criminal history. He said he was given a
full-body search and ordered to hand over his cellphone and
belongings. He was put in a holding cell where he slept on a bench
for two days before being transferred to the Otay Mesa Detention
Center in San Diego.
There, he said, he shared a cell with eight others.
“You are angry, you are sad, you don’t know when you can get out,”
Sielaff said. “You just don’t get any answers from anybody.”
He was finally told to get a direct flight to Germany and submit a
confirmation number. In a frantic call from Sielaff, Tyler bought it
for $2,744. He flew back March 5.
“What happened at the border was just blatant abuse of the Border
Patrol’s power,” Tyler said.
Ashley Paschen agrees. She said she learned about Brösche from a
TikTok video asking anyone in the San Diego area for help after her
family learned she was being held at the Otay Mesa Detention Center.
Paschen visited her several times and told her people were working
to get her out. Brosche flew home March 11.
“She’s happy to be home,” Paschen said. “She seems very relieved if
anything but she’s not coming back here anytime soon.”
On Feb. 26, a tourist from Wales, Becky Burke, a backpacker on a
trip across North America, was stopped at the U.S.-Canada border and
held for nearly three weeks at a detention facility in Washington
state, her father, Paul Burke, posted on Facebook. She returned home
Tuesday.
On March 3, Canadian Jasmine Mooney, an actress and entrepreneur who
had a visa to work in the U.S., was detained at the Tijuana
crossing. She was released Saturday, her friend Brittany Kors said.
Before Mooney's release, British Columbia Premier David Eby
expressed concern, saying, “It certainly reinforces anxiety that
many British Columbians have, and many Canadians have, about our
relationship with the U.S. right now, and the unpredictability of
this administration and its actions."
The detentions come amid legal fights over the Trump
administration's arrests and deportations of other foreigners with
valid visas and green card holders, including a Palestinian activist
who helped organize campus protests of the war in Gaza.
Tyler plans to sue the U.S. government.
Sielaff said he and Tyler are now rethinking plans to hold their
wedding in Las Vegas. He suffers nightmares and is considering
therapy to cope with the trauma.
“Nobody is safe there anymore to come to America as a tourist,” he
said.
___
Associated Press writer Rob Gillies reported from Toronto.
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