Australian woman recounts horror US deportation while attempting to visit husband
An Australian woman has recounted her horror story of imprisonment and deportation by US border control after attempting to visit her American husband in Hawaii.
Nicolle Saroukos, 25, of Sydney, told Hawaii News Now she was held in a federal prison overnight after trying to enter Hawaii with her mother to visit her husband, Matt, a US army lieutenant stationed on Oahu.
Her ordeal comes amid US data that shows that under the second Trump administration, the number of border searches for January to mid-May have already surpassed those recorded in the first half of 2024.
The border searches are up 10 per cent year on year according to US Customs and Border Protection.
US President Donald Trump signed a January 20 executive order which aimed to put in place additional vetting and screening processes for foreigners seeking entry to the US. It also laid the groundwork for new travel restrictions and a review of existing visas.
Saroukos, who had visited Hawaii three times since her wedding to Matt in December, said things took a chaotic turn after border officials at Daniel K Inouye International airport flagged her for extra screening
She said the officer checking passports “went from completely composed to just yelling at the top of his lungs, telling my mother to go stand at the back of the line and to … ‘shut up’ ”.
“I automatically started crying, because that was my first response.”
Saroukos said she and her mother were taken to a holding room. Their bags and phones were searched and she was bombarded with questions, including about her former work as a police officer, whether her tattoos were gang-related, and about her husband.
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Saroukos said she visited Hawaii three times since her December wedding. Photo: X/Hawaii News Now
“When I did say that I was married to somebody in the US army, the officers laughed at me. They thought it was quite comical. I don’t know whether they thought I was telling the truth or not,” she said.
The border officers allegedly told Saroukos that she had too many clothes in her suitcase for her planned three-week visit.
Saroukos was held for more screening, including fingerprints and a DNA swab, while her mother was allowed to go.
She was then denied entry to the US and told she would be deported to Australia after spending the night in prison, she said.
“[The officer] said ‘so basically what is going to happen is we’re going to send you to a prison overnight, where you will stay’,” Saroukos said.
“Not detention centre, he said prison, and I automatically just, I started crying again.”
Saroukos said border officials told her they would let her husband know she was being deported – but they never did.
She was then submitted to a body cavity search before being marched through the airport in handcuffs and taken to the federal detention centre.
After arriving at the prison, Saroukos was strip-searched and detained. She was not allowed to make a phone call to her husband or mother to let them know what happened.
Saroukos said the following morning she was returned to the airport where she received a call from the Australian consulate general in Hawaii.
Eventually, she was able to connect with her husband over the phone.
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“I think we were both just very emotional. We hadn’t spoken to each other in 24 hours. He didn’t know where I was or whether I was safe,” she said.
Saroukos’ husband is now on leave with her in Sydney after waiting hours for her at the airport and receiving no answers.
She said the horrifying experience “made it physically impossible for me to even ever enter the United States ever again”.
“I felt like my world came crashing down. I felt like my marriage was over when they told me that,” she said.
“That’s something that they’ve taken away from me as well.”
A US Customs and Border Protection spokesperson told Hawaii News Now that entry decisions were complex and taken seriously, with many factors in each decision.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade last month issued a warning to Australian travellers to the US as an increasing number of would-be visitors are turned back at border control.
DFAT, via its Smart Traveller advice services posted on X saying: “Entry requirements to the USA are strict. US authorities have broad powers to decide if you’re eligible to enter.
“Officials may ask to inspect your electronic devices, emails, text messages or social media accounts. If you refuse, they can deny your entry,” it said.
This month Flight Centre, one of the world’s largest travel agencies, warned it could lose more than $100 million in earnings this year, citing weakening demand for travel to the United States.
In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange this week, the company pointed to “volatile trading conditions” linked to changes in US entry policies.
Australian visitor numbers to the US fell by 7 per cent in March on the same time last year – the sharpest fall since the Covid pandemic.
Australians are not the only ones staying away.
New US data for March show sharp drops in visitors from key markets: Germany (down 28 per cent), Spain (25 per cent), Britain (18 per cent) and South Korea (15 per cent), to name a few. In total, inbound tourism fell 11.6 per cent.
Even Canadian travellers, traditionally the US’s most reliable market, dropped by more than 900,000 or 17 per cent in March, as growing numbers of Canadians opt to boycott US holidays.
