A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Last Thursday afternoon, Alistair Kitchen—a self-described “middling writer” and former Columbia University student—boarded Qantas Flight 93 from Melbourne, Australia, bound for Los Angeles, California. Kitchen was excited for a two-week trip to reconnect with friends he hadn’t seen since moving back to Australia last year after graduation. But what began as a long-anticipated visit quickly unraveled the moment he set foot on U.S. soil.
“As soon as I got off the plane, before I even made it to passport control, my name was called over the intercom and I was whisked into a backroom,” Kitchen recounted in a phone call with Status on Tuesday evening, describing the start of what became a 12-hour detention by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.
“LAX is hell and this was the basement of hell,” he said, referring to the windowless "dark place" underground where immigration authorities held him.
As he spoke with officers, Kitchen said it quickly became clear why he had been put in their crosshairs…
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Candace Owens. (Screen grab)
Infighting Over Iran: Donald Trump is facing more opposition from MAGA Media over his increasingly hawkish position on Iran. After Trump ripped Tucker Carlson for being "kooky" and no longer having a television show, Candace Owens came to the far-right podcaster's defense. Owens…
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