Trump admin shuts down media narrative on 'deportation' of German teens who were visiting US

The Trump administration dismantled a media narrative reporting on the supposed maltreatment of German teens denied entry while trying to visit the U.S.

The teens said they were interrogated and falsely accused of violating immigration laws while visiting during a global backpacking trip. A New York Post story claimed they were given a deportation order.

'We didn’t think it was happening to Germans. ... We felt so small and powerless.'

On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security issued a statement on social media justifying its actions. The statement was in response to a New York Post headline about the story.

"Another false narrative. These travelers weren’t deported—they were denied entry after attempting to enter the U.S. under false pretenses," the department said.

"One used a Visitor visa, the other the Visa Waiver Program," they added. "Both claimed they were touring California but later admitted they intended to work—something strictly prohibited under U.S. immigration laws for these visas."

The Post deleted its post on social media after the DHS statement, but its article kept the reporting on the claims from the teenagers.

Eighteen-year-old Maria Lepere and 19-year-old Charlotte Pohl had arrived in Hawaii on March 18 and intended to eventually go on to Los Angeles and Costa Rica. Instead, they were interrogated by U.S. officials and detained before denied entry.

Pohl told a German news outlet that officials distorted their words in the official report.

“They contained sentences we didn’t actually say,” she said. “They twisted it to make it seem as if we admitted that we wanted to work illegally in the US."

Pohl said Customs and Border Protection were suspicious because the teens didn't have hotel accommodations for their five-week stay in Hawaii.

“We wanted to travel spontaneously. Just like we had done in Thailand and New Zealand," she claimed.

They were also upset at their treatment and the conditions at the detention center.

“We were searched with metal detectors, our entire bodies were scanned, and we had to stand naked in front of the police officers and were looked through,” Pohl continued. “Then we were given green prison clothes and put in a prison cell with serious criminals.”

They said they were very cold, were warned by a guard not to eat expired cheese in their meal, and were detained alongside someone who had been imprisoned for 18 years for murder. Pohl said they knew about Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration, but they did not expect to be affected during their visit.

“It was a shock. We didn’t expect it. We had already noticed a little bit of what was going on in the U.S.," said Lepere. "But at the time, we didn’t think it was happening to Germans."

She added: "That was perhaps very naïve. We felt so small and powerless.”

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