No laughing matter: tourist claims JD Vance meme got him deported

A Norwegian tourist said he was denied entry to the US after border guards found a meme of a baby-head JD Vance on his phone.

Mads Mikkelsen, 21, said immigration officers humiliated and harassed him upon arrival at New Jersey’s Newark Airport on June 11th, including subjecting him to a strip search after checking his phone and finding some pictures that were not to their liking.

Mikkelsen, from Tromso, Norway, traveled to the US to visit friends in New York and Austin. He was later supposed to be joined by his mother to travel to several national parks. Instead, he was the target of “harassment and abuse of power” by the immigration authorities.

He told Norwegian media that he was pulled aside by officers once he arrived at the airport.

"I felt prejudiced, suspected, and simply humiliated even then, in front of many other people at the airport," Mikkelsen told the Norwegian outlet Nordlys.

ICE detained a Norwegian tourist who had a JD Vance meme on their phone. They weren't allowed to enter the country.

These are the same people who blame Europe for a lack of free speech. pic.twitter.com/AFBjfAKOsz

undefined Pekka Kallioniemi (@P_Kallioniemi) June 24, 2025

He was then escorted to a room with “several armed guards” and instructed to hand over his shoes, phone, and backpack. Immigration officers then demanded “full information about everyone I was going to meet in the US,” he said.

Mikkelsen was also questioned about drug smuggling, terrorist plots, and right-wing extremism. He said the officers demanded his phone password, threatening him with “a minimum fine of $5,000 or five years in prison” if he refused.

After checking his phone, the officers told Mikkelsen he would not be allowed to proceed with his travel plans. He said they had an issue with two pictures on his phone, namely, the JD Vance meme and a years-old image of him with a wooden pipe.

He said he tried to explain to the officers that the images were meant as jokes and were harmless, but in vain. According to Mikkelsen, he was then strip‑searched and compelled to provide blood samples, undergo a facial scan, and give fingerprints.

He said he was strip-searched “with a lot of force” and was “on the verge of panic.” The man was placed on a plane back to Oslo the same day after being held in a cell for five more hours without food or water.

The US Customs and Border Protection objected to Mikkelsen’s account, saying that he was not denied entry because of political reasons or memes, but because of his “admitted drug use.”

Fact Check: FALSE

Mads Mikkelsen was not denied entry for any memes or political reasons, it was for his admitted drug use. pic.twitter.com/is9eGqILUq

undefined CBP (@CBP) June 24, 2025

Memes mocking Vance – many portraying him as a baby or man-child – flooded social media earlier this year, with the vice president reportedly finding the trend “funny.”

Remember when JD Vance unconvincingly tweeted about how he finds the memes funny?

Was obviously a lie then, and it’s confirmed a lie now. pic.twitter.com/TPkp5nr0KF

undefined Matt Herdman (@MattHerdman) June 24, 2025

In March, a French scientist was denied entry to the US after immigration officers at an airport searched his phone and found messages in which he had expressed criticism of the Trump administration.

Many European countries have updated their travel advisories to the US, urging travelers to take extra precautions in light of strict gender-marker rules now enforced by Washington, and warning about phone and other electronic device searches.

Canada has gone as far as recommending that travelers use burner phones or wipe personal content before entry. The European Commission has reportedly been issuing burner phones to officials traveling to the US.