It’s every international thru-hiker’s worst nightmare: training for a long hike, saving enough money for the trip, and clearing your calendar, only to be stopped at the border and turned back before ever setting foot on US soil — let alone the trail.
Seasoned German thru-hiker and Trek blogger Annika “Ravenclaw” Ananias says that nightmare came true for her — and escalated to a horrifying degree when she attempted to enter the US to hike the Arizona Trail (AZT) last month.
Ananias had expected the journey to be routine, having previously come to the US on a B2 tourist visa in 2022 and 2024 to thru-hike the PCT and CDT, respectively. But upon reaching US passport control this time, she found herself detained, interrogated, and accused of intending to work illegally in the US.
Ananias says she was separated from her American boyfriend, shouted at and mocked by US border officials, and detained overnight in a cold, shared holding cell without access to medication. After 22 hours of incarceration, the hammer fell: despite having broken no laws and holding the same valid B2 visa under which she previously hiked the PCT and CDT, she was deported back to Germany and handed a five-year ban on re-entering the United States.
They’re denying foreign nationals due process. When the time comes, they can just call you a foreign national. What are you gonna do, prove it in court without due process?
My wife and I chose not to go to Portland on a holiday this March, and she’s American. We joke that she may get deported to Mexico because she’s a Latina.
Yes, “joke.” Haha, funny! 😬
The message is clear: Do not come to the United States as a tourist. Do not spend your money in the United States. Do not support businesses that operate from the United States. Our borders are closed, our economy crumbling, our government falling to fascism, and our culture dominated by a relatively small minority of aggressively ignorant morons.
Don’t come. We’ve gotten unfathomably stupid over here, and it’s no longer safe.
Canadian tourist destinations be like:
Je visiterai le Canada dans deux semaines. Bonjour.
Peut-être que je ne reviendrai pas à la maison.
Or for work. I would refuse to go there if my manager told me to go. And if he’d still insist on it, I’d demand a $10.000.000 life insurance while I’d be there, for my family.
You are welcome to come here to liberate us through effective means
I hear the void is lovely this time of year.
I’ve been screaming into it since November.
Hail Sithis!
I had to inform my grandparents they wont likely see their great granddaughter again because we do not want to risk the border.
I feel bad but at the same time, they voted for this.
My wife will not be visiting with me this year. The plan was for her to apply for a visa and visit in the winter or fall.
Pretty quickly, we agreed that I’ll just go alone.
Did your grandparents actually vote for Trump?
Yes
I’m curious as to how they responded to them being told they won’t be able to see her.
I honestly dont know if they really understood or took it seriously. Theyre really getting up there in age. Im just trying to make sure they at least get pictures of her from time to time.
sounds like they were targeting Europeans.
Gee. i wonder why…
The fascists are doing everything in their power to isolate us from the rest of the west. The better to propagandize us.
You mean like fox news saying Canada is run by Nazi… oh I mean Cartels.
You mean, like Russia?
No. Not like Russia.
Why would you think that, Komrade?
Edit: actually I was thinking more like North Korea, but Russia works too.
This is infuriating. How can this even be legal?
To MAGAs, anything you get away with is legal.
Nobody has a right to enter any other country then their own.
You think the maga freaks care what’s legal!? AND traditional “small government, financially conservative” Republicans give them the cover they need to defraud and strip the country for scrap, they are just as complicit. Any true Patriot would have voted to haul them in front of Congress by now (no matter what party), or impeached Trump…
Oh they do care what’s legal, but not for the same reasons.
They think that any laws against their beliefs are there specifically to persecute them. Because that’s exactly what they would be doing (as an individual) if they were in power. Hence the bullshit we are seeing now with them gaining power.
Anything is legal when you just ignore the law and make up the rules to suit your own agenda.
Surely this wouldn’t hold up when she eventually files a lawsuit right?
Have you ever tried to get justice as a foreigner in am American court? Good luck with that. Yes, American courts are that biased.
In whose court?
For any non citizen, non LPR (green card), the border official at the desk holds the final authority on whether to admit. This is true with a visa or without one. US visas (not green cards) can be effectively cancelled at the border with no notice.
All visitors to the US, visa or no, must overcome a presumption of immigrant intent at the border interview each time they visit.
Unfortunately, the whole story seems to be legal. I would recommending thru hiking in some less shit hole countries.
From the article …
The legal mechanism behind Ananias’ harrowing experience is known as “expedited removal.” Created in 1996, the statute grants broad powers to low-level border officials to unilaterally remove non-citizens from the United States without a hearing in front of an immigration judge
“legality” has never stopped rulers before
From the article …
Documents viewed by The Trek indicate that Ananias was deported and banned from entering the US for five years on February 25, despite having a valid visa. US Customs and Border Patrol declined a request to comment for this story, citing privacy concerns.
The officer asked how she had financed her previous stays in the United States; Ananias explained about her freelance work in Germany and additional financial support from her father and offered to show bank statements. “She refused to look at them and accused me of either being a millionaire or having worked illegally. She spoke in an aggressive tone, frequently interrupted me, and repeatedly raised her voice,” said Ananias.
The legal mechanism behind Ananias’ harrowing experience is known as “expedited removal.” Created in 1996, the statute grants broad powers to low-level border officials to unilaterally remove non-citizens from the United States without a hearing in front of an immigration judge
Expedited removal cannot be appealed under the independent judiciary, but can be contested within the department by an individual or their lawyer through the DHS Traveler Redress Inquiry Program. As Ananias’ evidence was not properly reviewed in interrogation and her medical needs were ignored in holding, in theory she has strong grounds for review of the decision. However, it is a lengthy, complicated process, with the burden of proof on the individual.
In light of her traumatizing experience, Ananias said she would likely not attempt to contest the ban and would steer clear of the US as long as the current climate on border security holds, for fear of going through the same thing again. “I had entered the United States multiple times without issue in the past, yet this time I was treated as a criminal,” she emphasized.
accused me of either being a millionaire… As if that’s a crime in America
Personally I really wish she would contest it. If not just for her, but to set a precedent that would protect those who came after her.
Plus she’s due compensation for what she was put through.
[…] but to set a precedent that would protect those who came after her
Would it, though?
It would never see a court room though. These days, there’s nothing you can do.
and accused me of either being a millionaire
Accused of not having enough money.
