Aussie Writer Claims U.S. Deported Him ‘Because of’ Gaza Protest Coverage – DHS Denies It
(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, file)
Australian writer Alistair Kitchen claims that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers explicitly told him his detainment was “because of” his coverage of pro-Palestinian student protests at Columbia University – despite denials by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
In a piece for the New Yorker published on Thursday, Kitchen, a 33-year-old former Columbia postgraduate and Substack writer, details how he was stopped by CBP upon arrival from Melbourne on June 12. In the article, Kitchen alleged a border agent told him he had been detained “because of what you wrote online about the protests at Columbia University.”
Kitchen said he was questioned for hours about his reporting, including his views on Israel, Hamas, and whether he knew any of the student organizers.
Kitchen wrote: “He asked me what I thought about ‘it all,’ meaning the conflict on campus, as well as the conflict between Israel and Hamas. He asked my opinion of Israel, of Hamas, of the student protesters. He asked if I was friends with any Jews. He asked for my views on a one- versus a two-state solution. He asked who was at fault: Israel or Palestine. He asked what Israel should do differently.”
Describing the ordeal as a “politically motivated” interrogation, he detailed how the detainment culminated in a detailed search of his devices.
One officer insisted that he unlock a Hidden folder on his phone: “I unlocked the folder and watched as he scrolled through all of my most personal content in front of me. We looked at a photo of my penis together.”
After being held for 12-hours the writer was formally deported and forced to return to Australia.
The DHS previously rejected the suggestion that political views had anything to do with their search, and instead said Kitchen was denied entry because he admitted to prior drug use that contradicted his ESTA visa waiver application.
“Any suggestion that an individual was targeted because of their political beliefs is unequivocally false,” a DHS spokesperson said.
Kitchen, who previously lived in New York and had documented Columbia’s campus protest movement via his personal blog, had ticked “no” on the ESTA form question asking whether he had ever used drugs. He later told border officials he had legally bought marijuana in New York and used drugs in other countries.
“Using the ESTA is a privilege, not a right,” the DHS spokesperson told The Guardian on Wednesday. adding: “and only those who respect our laws and follow the proper procedures will be welcomed.”
Kitchen disputes the narrative, writing: “They had evidently decided that weeks before. A U.S. government officer must have read my work and decided I was not fit to enter the country.”
The DHS has not said whether Kitchen is banned from future travel.
