A 21-year-old Norwegian tourist was deported from the United States after US border agents found a meme mocking Vice President J.D. Vance on his phone. Mads Mikkelsen arrived at Newark Airport on June 11, planning to visit friends and travel around the country. But after being pulled aside by Customs and Border Protection for questioning, his trip quickly turned into a nightmare.

Mikkelsen says he was interrogated for hours about drug trafficking, terrorism, and political extremism before being forced to unlock his phone. Agents then discovered the JD Vance meme, along with a small hand-carved wooden pipe, which they treated as suspicious. Despite explaining that the meme was harmless and automatically saved from a group chat, Mikkelsen was detained, strip-searched, fingerprinted, and locked in a holding cell before being placed on a flight back to Norway the same day.

The case sparked criticism online, with many accusing US authorities of overreach. Mikkelsen insists the meme triggered the ordeal, while officials argue his admission of prior drug use was the real reason for his deportation. The incident has raised fresh concerns about the sweeping powers US border agents hold over travelers’ private data.