The German government is investigating whether U.S. immigration policy has recently shifted after three separate incidents in which its citizens with legal documents were denied admission at ports of entry and detained.
A German Embassy spokesperson in Washington told the Washington Examiner Tuesday that Berlin is in “close contact” with the U.S. government about the incidents.
“The relevant Consulates General of the Federal Republic of Germany are aware of the cases and have been in close contact with the relevant U.S. authorities as well as with the families of the concerned persons,” Dr. Martin Jungius, an embassy spokesman, wrote in an email. “We kindly ask for your understanding that for reasons of privacy and data protection laws, we cannot provide any further details on the cases.”
The German Foreign Ministry confirmed Monday that it is “monitoring the situation” to determine if the Trump administration has changed its posture toward German tourists and immigrants and additional information based on the arrests.
“We have recently become aware of three cases in which German citizens were unable to enter the USA and were detained for deportation when they entered the country,” said Germany’s foreign ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer.
Fischer added that officials in Germany’s capital, Berlin, are also communicating with officials in other European countries to see if citizens from those regions have experienced similar problems while attempting to enter the United States legally.
“Once we have a clear picture, we will then, if necessary, adjust our travel and security advice,” Fischer said.
The three incidents that German officials are investigating involve two tourists and a green card holder arrested while attempting to enter the U.S. within the past two months.
In one instance, legal permanent U.S. resident Fabian Schmidt was detained after flying into Boston and then transferred to a federal immigration detention facility in Rhode Island earlier this month. Schmidt’s mother, Astrid Senior, told WGBH that her 34-year-old son was strip-searched and given a cold shower by customs officials at the airport.
While being detained at the airport, he fainted and was taken to the hospital before being transferred to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center.
In the second incident, 29-year-old tattoo artist Jessica Brösche was detained on Jan. 25 while attempting to drive with a U.S. citizen friend from Tijuana in northern Mexico to San Diego, California.
Brösche was visiting the U.S. under the ESTA Visa Waiver Program, according to a GoFundMe page set up by a friend on her behalf.
Customs officials told Brösche that she would detained for several days, but she was transferred to and held at ICE’s Otay Mesa Detention Center for six weeks before being released and returned to Germany.
Lucas Sielaff, 25, entered the U.S. on a tourist visa and traveled to Tijuana at the same port of entry where Brösche was arrested. On his return trip to the U.S. on Feb. 18, Sielaff was arrested and detained for three weeks, he recounted in an interview with Swiss media outlet Tages-Anzeiger.
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“I was escorted to the airport in handcuffs, ankle cuffs, and with chains around my stomach. The full program. I was treated like a serious criminal,” said Sielaff.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the federal agency that inspects people seeking admission, did not return a request for comment.