Overview

• Mads Mikkelsen, 21, was detained at Newark Liberty International Airport on June 11 and ordered to unlock his phone under threat of a $5,000 fine or five years in prison.
• Officers found a meme mocking Vice President JD Vance alongside a photo of a homemade wooden pipe, then subjected him to questioning about drug trafficking, terrorism and right-wing extremism.
• He says he was strip-searched, forced to provide blood samples and fingerprints, and held in a cell for several hours before being put on a return flight to Norway the same day.
• On June 25, US Customs and Border Protection confirmed the denial was based on Mikkelsen’s admitted drug use during the inspection rather than any political content on his phone.
• The incident underscores strict US immigration enforcement under the Trump administration and the expanding scope of border searches of electronic devices.