Detentions of Europeans Sparks Fears   03/21 06:21

   

   SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Lennon Tyler and her German fianc 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 fianc, 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 Brsche 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 Brsche, 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.

   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 fianc'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 Brsche 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.