‘I’M F*CKED’

Aussie Teen Held in U.S. Prison for 10 Days After Traveling for Job Interview

Cameron Carter was unable to contact his family during the ordeal, which was extended after immigration officials misinterpreted his stress as an attempt to resist deportation.

A 19-year-old from Australia was held in a federal detention center in Hawaii for 10 days after failing to satisfy entry requirements upon his arrival, The Guardian Australia reported Sunday. Aboard a flight for the first time in his life, Cameron Carter was traveling on the visa waiver program to Wyoming, where he intended to stay with a friend and interview for jobs, he told the outlet. Stopped at customs and pulled out for an interview, “once I got sat down and asked questions it was, yeah, I’m fucked,” Carter said. Though he had a flight back to Australia booked and told immigration officials that he would return to the U.S. only “after I obtain a working visa,” they determined he had “not overcome the presumption that [he was] an intended immigrant.” Carter was jailed in a small cell, his ordeal extended for more than a week after immigration officials interpreted his stress as resisting deportation, The Guardian reported. After days of being unable to contact his family, Carter was eventually placed on a flight back to Australia. “The experience didn’t put me off, it just gave me more of a goal to reach,” he said. “I am stubborn.”