Soldier’s wife deported to Australia after detainment in Hawaii

A girl making an attempt to go to her navy husband in Hawaii was detained and ultimately deported after the Division of Homeland Safety stated it flagged her for doubtful conduct.

Nicolle Saroukos, of Australia, landed on the Daniel Ok. Inouye Worldwide Airport in Oahu, Hawaii, on Might 18, to go to her husband Matt, a U.S. Military lieutenant stationed within the space, in response to Hawaii Information Now.

She was then chosen for secondary screening by Customs and Border Safety officers, who pulled her apart after changing into suspicious of “current long-term journeys to america and suspicious baggage,” a DHS senior official instructed Navy Instances in an emailed assertion.

“Officers decided that she was touring for extra than simply tourism,” the assertion learn. “She was unable to recollect her wedding ceremony date simply 4 months prior.”

Saroukos met her husband throughout a visit on Dec. 13, 2024, the identical day her ex-partner left her, in response to the official.

The assertion didn’t specify the placement of that journey, however offered additional particulars of her romantic life, stating that Saroukos and her husband spent eight days collectively earlier than she returned to Australia on Dec. 21.

“Saroukos then bought married on January 24, 2025, after solely understanding her husband for simply over a month,” the assertion stated.

Saroukos instructed Hawaii Information Now that it was her third go to to see her husband in Oahu, and that she’d by no means skilled issues till the day she was detained.

She was reportedly taken to a holding room, alongside together with her mom, who accompanied her on the flight. There, Saroukos’ baggage and telephone have been searched, in response to native studies, and he or she was questioned about her work as a former police officer and whether or not her tattoos have been gang-affiliated.

Officers instructed her she had too many garments in her suitcase, which they suspected indicated an try to remain within the U.S. longer than her VISA allowed, Hawaii Information Now reported.

Afterward, DHS took fingerprints and DNA swabs of Saroukos’ mouth, carried out a physique cavity search and escorted her to the Federal Detention Middle, Honolulu, the report said. Her mom was allowed to depart.

DHS instructed Navy Instances that issues over her cellphone have been additionally partly guilty for her detention.

“Throughout screening, CBP famous there was uncommon exercise on her telephone, together with 1,000 deleted textual content messages from her husband as a result of she claimed they brought about her ‘nervousness,’” a DHS senior official stated. “Saroukos even claimed that her husband was going to depart the U.S. navy, regardless of him telling CBP he was including her to his navy paperwork.”

Saroukos instructed native media that she was strip-searched on the detention middle, earlier than being denied dinner and spending the evening there.

Her husband instructed Hawaii Information Now that he waited on the airport for a number of hours, asking officers the standing of his spouse’s arrival. He stated nobody would reply his questions initially. When he was lastly instructed that his spouse was at a detention middle, he was not permitted to name or see her, the report stated.

A U.S. Military spokesperson instructed Navy Instances that the husband’s unit and its leaders have been offering help to the service member.

Saroukos is now again in Sydney, in response to Hawaii Information Now. Her husband is reportedly on depart visiting her.

“Should you try and enter america underneath false pretenses, there are penalties,” the DHS senior official instructed Navy Instances.