The head coach of Australia’s national mixed martial arts (MMA) team spent 24 hours in a United States jail when Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers detained him for what he says was a “mistake” with his visa.
Renato Subotic was on his way to a seminar when he was stopped by border officials who took him to a private room and questioned him for three hours.
“They told me there was a mistake with my visa and that they were taking me to jail,” he said.
The 33-year-old claimed he was stripped, searched, fingerprinted, handcuffed and taken to a federal prison.
He described immigration detention as “madness.”
“The moment the door opened it was chaos. Fights between gangs. People screaming. Arguing over food, what to watch on TV, crazy people running around.
Eventually, he was taken back to the airport and told he would be deported.
“An officer walked me to the plane. Before taking off the handcuffs, he looked at me and said: ‘I’m sorry this happened to you. They messed up big. It shouldn’t have gone this way,’” he wrote. “This whole experience was unreal.”
In a comment on the post detailing his experience, Subotic says he is now back in Australia and will be speaking with his lawyers.
“Something has to be done about the way I was treated,” he said. “I hope this never [happens] to nobody else.”
DFAT Issues Travel Warning
Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has issued a travel warning for Australians travelling to the United States.“Officials may ask to inspect your electronic devices, emails, text messages or social media accounts. If you refuse, they can deny your entry.”
