Instead of visiting relatives

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A deportation center in the USA

(Bild: APA/AFP )

Celine from the German state of Baden-Württemberg actually wanted to use the semester break to visit a relative and go on vacation - but instead the 22-year-old student ended up in a deportation center. The young woman had applied for a visa in advance.

After landing at Newark Airport in the US state of New Jersey, the German woman was pulled out at passport control, as the RTL broadcaster reported. "The border police obviously didn't believe me that I was just on vacation," the student reported about the interrogation at the airport. 

Her luggage was searched and her body was patted down - the examinations lasted six hours, as she explained. The officers suspected that Celine wanted to work illegally in the USA - the fact that she had a valid return ticket did not change her mind. Shortly afterwards, she was arrested and taken to a nearby deportation center.

People protest in New York against Trump's rigorous deportation policy.

(Bild: AP/Andres Kudacki)

Student's cell phone was taken from her
Her cell phone was taken from her. "I couldn't call my family or a lawyer," explains the 22-year-old. She was held in a cell with two other women. "There was a woman from Mexico and one from Chile in the cell with me. Luckily I was able to talk to them because I speak Spanish." 

Only because she persistently asked was she given a small bottle of water every few hours, and later a few slices of bread. "I couldn't sleep there. The light stayed on around the clock and there was only a hard bench and the bare floor in the cell," the German woman told RTL, describing her ordeal.

After 24 hours, she was taken out of prison. "I was taken back to the airport in handcuffs and with an ankle cuff. There they took the ankle cuffs off me and took me to the security check," Celine continued. She only got her cell phone back after landing in Germany. "Fortunately, the person sitting next to me was kind enough to lend me her phone so that I could finally call my mother after more than 24 hours."

German has to pay for deportation herself
RTL reported that no reasons for the deportation were given on the deportation papers available to the broadcaster - it was merely stated that the young woman had not committed a crime in the USA. She has to pay for the repatriation herself: the involuntary early journey home cost 900 euros.