A Norwegian tourist told Norwegian newspaper Nordlys that he was denied entry to the U.S. on June 11 because of a meme of Vice President JD Vance.The 21-year-old tourist, Mads Mikkelsen, was set for a two month vacation in the states, but was denied entry after questioning at Newark Liberty International Airport.
Reactions to Mikkelsen’s encounter have blown up to the extent that Irish lawmakers are waving “Babyface Vance” memes on the floor of their parliament. On Wednesday, Irish politician Ivana Bacik held up the Vance meme in the lower house of the Irish parliament.
“We’re watching a major incursion on the freedom of expression, unthinkable in an electoral democracy,” Bacik said.
In a post on X, the European Democratic Party, a centrist faction in the European Union parliament, criticized the action, writing that it’s “typical of authoritarian regimes like North Korea, not of a democracy.”
One Irish journalist wrote that travelers should scrub their phones before any U.S. travel, citing an immigration specialist who said, “If in doubt, just wipe it.”
Ireland is one of several countries that’s already issued travel advisories to its citizens planning to travel to the U.S. Canada and European countries, including The Netherlands, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Germany and Finland, have also issued travel advisories to citizens. Some tourists have even preemptively cancelled their trips.
Mikkelson, speaking to the Norwegian newspaper, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement threatened a $5,000 fine or five years in prison if he refused to provide his phone password. Upon searching his device, agents found a meme of Vance and a photo of a wooden pipe. According to Mikkelson, the questioning became increasingly intense after the photos were found. Agents asked questions about “drug smuggling, terrorist plans and right-wing extremism.” He was strip-searched, forced to give blood samples, a facial scan, and fingerprints.
Mikkelson said he was denied food and water and said agents were “incredibly harsh and used physical force.”
“I felt completely f**king devastated and broke down,” Mikkelson said. After five hours in a cell, he was sent back to Norway.
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in a post on X, denied that Mikkelson was barred from entering the country over the Vance meme, instead claiming it was over his “admitted drug use.”
Mikkelson isn’t the first foreign tourist denied entry in recent months. An Australian tourist said he was refused entry for his pro-Palestine views. A French scientist was denied entry in March for messages that criticized the Trump administration.
The reports come as the U.S. State Department has begun instructing visa applicants to “adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media profiles to ‘public.’”
The Trump administration has also issued travel bans for several countries, with 12 more added to the list earlier this month. The U.S. can expect to feel the brunt of decreased tourism, with the World Travel & Tourism Council projecting that the U.S. economy will lose $12.5 billion in international traveler spending this year.
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