Why are Germans being detained by US immigration?

United States immigration officials are known for being aggressive, even combative, during routine passport checks at the country's borders. However, citizens of the European Union are ostensibly allowed to travel to the US visa-free for 90 days, provided they fill out an ESTA form and pass the related background check.

So why have four German nationals been detained for weeks on end by US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since the beginning of 2025?

Green Card holder held without charge

"I feel helpless," Astrid Senior told local media in Boston after her son Fabian Schmidt was detained at Logan Airport on March 7. Senior and Schmidt aren't even tourists, they are Green Card holders — lawful permanent residents of the US — having lived in the country since 2007.

Schmidt, 34, was interrogated "for hours" his mother said, after returning from a visit to Germany and being told simply that his Green Card had been flagged.

She said he was subject to sleep, food, and water deprivation, as well as having his anxiety medication withheld. His condition worsened to the point that he had to be taken to a local hospital.

While ICE confirmed the hospital visit, they told US media they could not comment further on the case for legal reasons. Schmidt's lawyer, David Keller, has said in press statements that neither he nor his client have been told why he is being held.

Senior said in an interview with Boston public radio WBGH that her son had had minor run-ins with the law in the past, including an old DUI and a marijuana possession charge, but no issues in recent years. Indeed, the cannabis charge was dropped after legalization of the drug in California, where the incident occurred. He did however miss a 2022 court summons related to the incident after authorities failed to forward it to his new address in New Hampshire.

"Fabian said to me that he feels he's very fearful," Senior said of her son, an electrical engineer who has a long-term partner and an eight-year-old daughter. She added that Schmidt was pressured to renounce his Green Card, but that he hadn't agreed to do so. Schmidt remains in an immigration detention facility in Rhode Island, where a number of activists and supporters have begun gathering to protest his arrest.

Tourists detained for weeks

Lucas Sielaff, a 25-year-old from the eastern German town of Bad Bibra, told Der Spiegel magazine about a similarly harrowing experience earlier this month, though he was released after two weeks and deported to Germany.

"I was angry, sad, and afraid," Sielaff told the outlet, describing what happened during a trip to visit his American fiancée, who lives in Nevada, one of many he has taken in recent years. The pair decided to take her sick dog to a veterinarian in Mexico, where appointments are easier to get. Sielaff described a tense interrogation at the border on the way back, saying he suspected the border patrol officer assumed he was living unlawfully in the US, trying to skirt the 90-day regulation by taking the short trip out of the country.

Sielaff said he was shackled around his stomach and feet and brought to an ICE detention center in California, where he was put in a cell with 128 other men. On March 6, after two weeks without being told anything about his case, he was put on a flight to Munich.

His case was similar to that of Jessica Börsche, a Berlin-based tattoo artist who was in ICE detention for two weeks earlier this year. Börsche was trying to cross into the US from Mexico on January 15, when an officer said he found tattooing equipment in her bag and suspected her of trying to work illegally in the US. She was deported to Germany after six weeks' detention.

Celine Flad, 22, is another German who found herself at the mercy of an unclear border situation when she tried to go on vacation in New York and Miami. The university student told Der Spiegel that despite having a valid passport and an ESTA waiver, she was told there was a "problem" with her passport. She was held for 24 hours, during which she was repeatedly asked why she wanted to enter the US. Flad added that the officers took her smartphone and searched through her pictures.

Despite showing officials her hotel bookings in New York, Miami, and her flight tickets on to Cancun, Mexico, she was told she was being sent back to Germany as soon as possible. She was never told what the issue was.

Berlin issues travel advisory

The four Germans are hardly the only tourists and US residents who have found themselves caught in a Kafkaseque situation with ICE following US President Donald Trump's recent crackdown on immigration. Trump has even tried to invoke an 18th century law to imprison more immigrants, but that move was struck down by a court.

Travelers from other countries with visa-free travel to the US, like Canada and France, have reported similar incidents at the country's borders.

The situation has gotten to the point where the German Foreign Ministry has issued an advisory to its citizens planning a trip to the US, stressing that holding a US visa or entry waiver does not guarantee access for German citizens.

As for Schmidt's case, they ministry said they were "monitoring" it closely.

Edited by: Ben Knight

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