A young Australian tourist who was detained, stripped and held overnight in a US federal prison while attempting to visit her US citizen husband has warned others to think twice before travelling to the country. 

Former NSW police officer Nikki Saroukos was detained by US border officials upon arrival at Honolulu, Hawaii on Sunday. 

The 25-year-old thought it would be a routine visit to see her husband who has been stationed as a US Army lieutenant on the Pacific island and US state since August, 2023. 

She was joined on the trip by her mother for a planned three weeks together, being joined by her working husband on weekends. 

After clearing customs, however, it became clear things would not be as simple as they had been on her many previous visits. 

‘We went through customs and border security, as per usual, and we got stopped to check our passports,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.

‘I’m an ex-police officer and he was taking a little bit, checking stuff on the computer. My mum started asking, like, ”Oh, is there a problem?” and asked if he needed any more information.

‘He went from being super calm, very nice, even giving my mum a compliment, to just instantly turning. 

Nikki Saroukos, 25, is pictured alongside her husband whom she had planned to visit before she was detained and deported back to Australia over the weekend

Nikki Saroukos, 25, is pictured alongside her husband whom she had planned to visit before she was detained and deported back to Australia over the weekend

Ms Saroukos (right) was travelling with her mother (left) at the time. The two were taken aside for questioning before her mother was allowed access to the country

Ms Saroukos (right) was travelling with her mother (left) at the time. The two were taken aside for questioning before her mother was allowed access to the country

‘He yelled at the top of his lungs and told my mum to go stand at the back of the line because she was being nosy and asking too many questions.

‘Everyone in the airport kind of just froze because his voice literally echoed three rooms over… that’s how loud he was.’

The mother and daughter were then taken downstairs where officers searched their luggage.

‘They questioned me, stating that because of the amount of clothes that I had in my suitcase that I was intending on overstaying my ESTA visa which, I said, “I’m really not. I have a return flight home”. 

They were then taken to a private room where the 25-year-old was forced to hand over her phone and passcode.

‘They would come back and forth, ask me questions about my experience in the police force. They tried to get an understanding of what I was exposed to in the job.

‘They tried to insinuate that I was part of like gang-related syndicates, or that I was giving intel to criminal organizations’.

Ms Saroukos spent Sunday night at Federal Detention Centre, Honolulu (pictured) where she was subjected to a cavity search before being sent home the next morning

Ms Saroukos spent Sunday night at Federal Detention Centre, Honolulu (pictured) where she was subjected to a cavity search before being sent home the next morning

Her mother, who was being questioned in the same room, was soon allowed to leave but Nikki had to stay, and it would be nearly 24 hours before the two would see each other again.

Ms Saroukos felt she had been singled-out from the beginning.

‘They locked-in on me and then they ran with it. It wasn’t a fair process, [is] what I believe.’

The officers demanded a written statement on her reasons for travel, income and personal information regarding her relationship with her husband.

Some time later, she was required to sign a declaration stating she had no cartel affiliations before being subjected to an oral DNA swab and fingerprinting.

She was then told that her entry to the US had been rejected and she would spend the night in a federal detention facility before being deported back to Australia.

Ms Saroukos then requested a phone call to her husband but officers assured her they would inform him on her behalf – a promise she would learn the following day they did not make good on.

She was then handcuffed and marched through the airport in full view of the public before being subjected to a full body cavity search at Honolulu Federal Detention Facility.

The 25-year-old former NSW police officer had planned to spend three weeks in Honolulu with her mother and husband

The 25-year-old former NSW police officer had planned to spend three weeks in Honolulu with her mother and husband

‘It was obviously very invasive, like they were feeling everything,’ she said.

Officers then removed her handcuffs and, after another round of fingerprinting, Ms Saroukos was forced to strip naked and put on prison clothes before being returned to the processing room where, she claimed, an officer expressed his disapproval of her detention.

‘He said to me that I should not be there. He goes: ‘I do not know why they brought you here, but… we are seeing this more than anything, and it’s really alarming,’ she said.

Ms Saroukos was then processed and given a blanket. She was told she had missed the cut-off for dinner and would have to go hungry and was denied a shower on the basis there were no available towels.

She was then ushered into the facility where she briefly mingled with other inmates.

‘Conversing with the inmates, I was aware of their charges. And one of the women in there that was speaking to me, she was convicted of murder… the facility was intense.’

At 8.40pm, she was locked in a cell with a Fijian woman who had also been detained upon attempting to enter the country for a wedding.

‘Apparently, she was forced to take a pregnancy test, and also she was forced to take an injection, to which she didn’t know what that injection was.

Pictured is Daniel K Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, where Ms Saroukos was detained

Pictured is Daniel K Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, where Ms Saroukos was detained

‘And she was leaving two days after my departure from that facility, because they couldn’t find her a flight.’

‘I was in a foreign country. I had no idea what my rights were. I was terrified. 

‘I thought I was never going to get out of that facility.

‘Because of all the horror stories I’ve heard from other travelers traveling through the United States, I kept asking the officers if I was safe in that facility, because I felt like they put my life at risk because I was being housed with criminals.

‘I didn’t feel safe, and even staying in there overnight, I didn’t get any sleep, because I was constantly worried about what was going to happen to me and my family didn’t know where I was.’

Meanwhile, her mother and husband were desperately searching for answers, before a Hawaiian Airlines staff member said she had likely been taken to the federal detention facility.

After a sleepless night, Ms Saroukos returned to the airport under police custody and was allowed to call the Australian embassy. She requested they inform her mother she had been booked on a 12.15pm flight in order that she might also book a ticket.

Several hours later, she was once again escorted by officers in view of the public to her gate and made to board the flight ahead of all other passengers.

The Australian citizen said she felt unsafe in the prison which, she was told, housed inmates convicted of serious federal offences

The Australian citizen said she felt unsafe in the prison which, she was told, housed inmates convicted of serious federal offences

‘I was the first person. Everybody was looking at me, because I had two officers escorting me.’

Some time later, passengers began to board the flight. Among them, her mother.

‘It was probably the best feeling in the world to see my mother after not knowing whether I was even going to come out of that prison, and hadn’t spoken to anyone.

‘I had no contact. I had no idea if they were okay, and my mum obviously made me aware when I got to speak to her for the first time, that she had no idea where I was.

‘It just felt really good to be back with my mum again.’

Reflecting on her ordeal, Ms Saroukos said she felt ‘disgusted’ and vowed never to return to the US.

‘I felt like I was targeted, and they treated me like I was a criminal, and they kept telling me that I had done nothing wrong, but yet their actions don’t reflect what they were telling me,’ she said.

‘I never want to return back to the United States.

Ms Saroukos said she planned to never return to the US, adding her husband plans to retire from the US military to join her in Australia

Ms Saroukos said she planned to never return to the US, adding her husband plans to retire from the US military to join her in Australia

‘They’ve pretty much traumatized me [from] ever returning back there, which automatically strains my marriage as well, because my husband lives over there.’

Ms Saroukos said her husband is now attempting to resign from the US military to move home and be with her.

‘So the holiday was [planned with] pure, pure intentions, and it quickly turned into the holiday from hell.’

Ms Saroukos’ sour experience came a month after University of Sydney academic Gemma Smart warned other that she felt it was now unsafe to travel to the US.

She cancelled plans to travel there for a work conference based on fears she would be discriminated against for her academic background and disability status. 

‘I do know I’m not the only academic who has made a similar decision about this conference or others, and I think the impacts of this are hard to quantify, but potentially devastating,’ she told Daily Mail Australia. 

‘Given many of us are in a cohort that was also affected by Covid-19 restrictions, it’s difficult to assess how this will affect the state of academic research moving forward.’ 

Ms Smart wants all Australians to consider how their backgrounds could potentially affect their chances of facing a similar treatment to Ms Saroukos.  

University of Sydney academic Gemma Smart (pictured) cancelled plans to travel to the US out of fear her academic background might affect her chances of being admitted to the country

University of Sydney academic Gemma Smart (pictured) cancelled plans to travel to the US out of fear her academic background might affect her chances of being admitted to the country

‘It’s important for Australians, particularly those in minority groups, to be aware of the concerns raised by many entering the USA.

‘For academics, especially those of us working in areas broadly related to DEI, those of us involved in activism or advocacy, or those who have sensitive data privacy concerns due to the type of research we’re doing we have to seriously consider whether travel to the USA is appropriate at this time.

‘If it can’t be avoided, care should be taken to secure data and personal security.’

DFAT was contacted by Daily Mail Australia.  

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