Alistair Kitchen, a 33-year-old writer from Melbourne, experienced a harrowing journey upon his arrival at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on October 10, 2023. Kitchen visited the United States several times and spent six years at Columbia University studying urban planning. Yet, for the next 12 hours he was still held in detention and then later denied entry into the United States, specifically for allegedly not declaring a longstanding history of drug use on his Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). As to the characterization that he made an illegal payout or something like that, he vigorously rejects this claim.
Kitchen took additional precautions ahead of the trip to the US. This ruling raised alarm bells over the increasing invasion of travelers’ cyberspace. It’s that leadership that led him to delete several tweets lauding former President Donald Trump. To preempt any possible problems at customs, he further deleted several messaging apps from his phone. He was subjected to a harrowing meltdown from US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers. As if that wasn’t bad enough, they seized his laptop.
During his time in detention, Kitchen was subjected to a rapid-fire series of interrogations about his opinions on the war raging in the Middle East. US customs officers explicitly cited his documentation of pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University as a point of contention. One border agent captured the gravity of the situation with chilling words. He said, “You and I both know why you are here, because of what you posted to the internet about the Columbia University protests.”
He had scrubbed the myriad photographs on his phone before Kitchen left. Then he received an order from authorities requiring him to relinquish his phone and passcode, putting him in an untenable situation. He subsequently disclosed that his phone was seized and held until he returned to Australia.
“In the United States, the Americans talk proudly about their constitution. Those constitutional laws do not apply to people who are yet to cross the passport processing line,” – Alistair Kitchen
Kitchen expected some trouble at immigration. He had read or heard of some fellow travellers who had undergone the same detentions. He stated, “I had plenty of concern about going through immigration in the US because I’d heard stories already about travellers getting held up.” His experience proved to be uniquely traumatic, as he described it as “the most traumatic thing I’ve experienced.”
The US State Department has doubled down on its position that “a US visa is a privilege, not a right.” This declaration highlights the draconian measures being placed on visitors coming to the US. Since 2019, visa applicants are required to provide their social media screen names to the Department of State. This new requirement is an extension of the disturbing trend of looking closely into people’s online lives.
That bigger, overall picture is one where fewer Australians are making the trip to the US. The trend was actually an astonishing 10 percent drop from June 2022, according to reports released in June 2023. These numbers overlap with recently introduced expanded visa screening procedures that now include checking applicants’ “online presence.”
“If you do not immediately cooperate, that will very much throw into doubt your ability to cross the border and enter into the US. If you do cooperate, you’re then forgoing your privacy.” – Donald Rothwell
Since the September 11 attacks in 2001, countries have been enacting stricter policies on border control with an increasing intensity. This deeply disturbing and alarming trend, mentions Donald Rothwell, an international law professor at the Australian National University. Rothwell remarked on the unusual nature of US customs officials requesting passwords and access to travelers’ phones, stating, “What is extraordinary here is that we’re hearing increasingly US border officials are asking for passwords and are actually seeking to gain access to the actual phone.”
Kitchen’s warrantless seizure is at the intersection of privacy rights and the scope of government power at borders. His experience illustrates how current policies can affect travelers’ freedom and personal privacy, particularly those who engage in politically sensitive discussions online.
“I’m laughing because just three days ago I was the celebrant at a Jewish wedding,” – Alistair Kitchen
