Strange: Friend’s child stopped at CDG, held for 24 hours, sent back to US without passport

How did they get on a plane and into the US without a passport?

So they placed her in a holding cell for 24 hours, and after a 24 hour wait they flew her back? They didn’t ask her any questions? That’s strange. Usually the questions they ask give a pretty good indication of why she was refused entry into the Schengen zone.
The airline is responsible for getting her luggage back, so she needs to contact them.
US senators have no jurisdiction in the EU, so I’m not sure what you think he/she can do. The US Embassy in Paris would be more equipped to get the passport back. But I too find it strange that she was able to fly back to the US without a passport.
I appreciate you want to help your friend, but it seems you haven’t been told the whole story.

And the luggage should not have gone forward to Berlin with the owner not on the flight. That is a serious security breach.

I agree with all of these statements.I am equally perplexed and thought I would post here in case somebody has an idea or related story.

I am a lawyer by profession and a fairly good researcher and I am just confused as to how this played out. All I know is she is back home in Los Angeles and her passport is still in France.

A senator sometimes has a good enough connections to at least get some answers in a crazy scenario like this, which is why that was the only idea I had for them.

I'll post again if further crucial details are added. There must be more to this, but I don't know what it is.

Mais oui, tres etrange.
I am done. The end.

There must be more to this, but I don't know what it is.

No disagreement with that statement.

Luggage-- Contact the airline, to make arrangements to get it back. I would not be surprised if they charge a fee to do so.

Passport- I think it would make more sense to contact a French Embassy/Consulate, than a US politician. If it cannot be retrieved, then I suppose applying for a replacement is the option. ( Is 'confiscated' the same as 'lost'?)

I'm sorry, but this story cannot be totally true.

If she was refused entry, then yes, she would be held in a holding cell until they could get her on the next available flight.

The only reason they would keep her passport would be if they thought it was a fake. They would check with the US Embassy or consulate before making this determination unless it was obvious.

Her luggage should not have been sent to Berlin as unaccompanied luggage should be removed from the plane.

If she was denied entry, she would have been told and even given some paperwork explaining all.

How did she get back into the US withou a passport? If she returned without one but with paperwork from the French government, she would have been stopped and seriously questioned by CBP when returning to the US.

Now, let's supposed this is true. (And we would really have to stretch out imagination).....

The airline should know where the luggage is. With her reservation information, the airline can start a search for her luggage.

As far as the passport goes, it is the property of the U.S State Department. They are the ones who would go after the passport.

But my honest opinion.....stay out of it. There are too many red flags regarding the story.

Valerie, from one lawyer to another, if it were me, I might want to contact an international lawyer. If they don’t want to do that, then I think going with the senator is the next best option. But obviously she or her family should initialize the contact.

Another option might be contacting someone in the state department since a passport was involved.

Thanks, all! I'm not planning on getting involved...but it was so odd that I thought I'd share it. This all definitely happened...the WHY it happened and the way it gets untangled should be interesting.

For those inside/outside the US who might not know, all Senators (and US representatives) have staff who do „constituent services,“ helping constituents negotiate government systems. So the idea of contacting one‘s Senator actually makes good sense, not because a politician is throwing around her or his weight, but because Senators have people in their offices who are very knowledgeable about government systems and can often more easily make contacts within those systems than the constituent can.

Yes, it's definitely unusual and baffling. I hope you'll keep us updated if you find out anything!

She had some paperwork or she wouldn’t have gotten back in the country without another long holdup at LAX

It may not have been a passport, but it was paperwork. That paperwork probably says what happened. And if she says she doesn’t have it that’s a red flag and you want to stay out. But I’m curious as to what happened to it.

These people who are telling you what happened I have a feeling are leaving out some details that might make their daughter look less than wonderful and some information that she has that she’s not sharing either with them or they’re not sharing with you

My gut reaction is they found something they didn’t like. Something smelled in my opinion

As for the luggage going on to Berlin, Europe is just like you just like United States in that they don’t necessarily pull your luggage off if the passenger misses s flight. Now that does happen on international flights but if I’m flying from Atlanta to Chicago to Indianapolis and I’m miss the Chicago to Indianapolis flight. My luggage will go to Indianapolis.

Has the news media picked up on this story? Any links?

If there was a problem with her passport, how was she allowed to board the plane in the US in the first place? Something is missing in this story...color me skeptical...

One thought: maybe she had previously violated Schengen rules, overstayed her welcome?

Baffling,

Thanks for relaying the story. Please share any additional news as it comes available that helps explain this.

I hope everything resolves.

Happy travels.

Obviously missing info........and it COULD BE the young adult "child" has not shared all information.

Maybe she did receive the "reason" papers in France (but chose not to share them with her parents) and/OR the backstory on the WHY she was not allowed thru. Not lying...but "not telling everything she knows"...maybe...maybe not. Leaving something in a baffling state might be easier for her than explaining....or even seeking more answers.

Something IS missing though, other than her luggage.

I wonder if the "sniffing dogs" found something in her luggage.................................

Keep us posted, if/when you learn more....if ever.

99% sure family is leaving out any information that will make child look bad. Usually passports are not taking unless they are fraudulent. My guess is she didn't have the right visa for study abroad. Americans usually forget that in order to study in a country in the EU for a period of time, a special visa is needed.

Basically she needs to get in touch with their Senator or Representative. They should have also sent her back with paperwork as she couldn't get into the US without it. So yeah, the family is probably not telling you everything.

It is possible that based on how she answered questions, they thought she was traveling for purposes other than tourism or that she had intent to stay longer than 90 days. I recall getting the third degree at immigration in the UK when I was in my 20s. They wanted to see my return ticket, wanted to see how much money I had, etc. Basically, they were making sure I had enough money to support myself and that I planned to return to the U.S. However, it is very strange that she was not told the reason.

No advice in the least but just wanted to say I am sure this whole thing is making your detail oriented brain want to explode!

Very Bizarre.

Now that it is morning in the US, I have been provided with one additional key detail. The passport was confiscated at LAX, not at the Paris airport. The rest of the family is actually in Berlin, visiting the study abroad student.

Now that it is morning in the US, I have been provided with one additional key detail. The passport was confiscated at LAX, not at the Paris airport. The rest of the family is actually in Berlin, visiting the study abroad student.

That makes no sense with the prior part of the story, that she was held at CDG, detained for 24 hours, and put on a return flight. How in the world was she allowed to board the plane at LAX without a valid passport? Why would United allow it, knowing she would be refused entry at CDG and they would be on the hook to return her to the US?

The passport was confiscated at LAX, not at the Paris airport.

So it sounds like it was confiscated when she returned to the U.S.? If so, then it sounds like she needs to contact the State Dept. There are reasons that the State Dept can confiscate or deny a passport (e.g., criminal record, unpaid taxes, etc.)
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/legal-matters.html

None of these various stories ring true, frankly. Passport’s in Paris. No, wait it’s in LA.,.,,

"Now that it is morning in the US, I have been provided with one additional key detail. The passport was confiscated at LAX, not at the Paris airport. The rest of the family is actually in Berlin, visiting the study abroad student."

Was the passport confiscated upon her return to LAX? Asking because if she had no passport on the outgoing trip, as mentioned above the airline would not have boarded her unless they somehow made an error. Every time I have left the country, I have had to show my passport right before going down the jetway. I always thought the purpose of that was that if one does not have a passport you are not allowed to board. Of course, human error could have occurred and she could have slipped through that final passport check.

Curiouser and curiouser.
It makes no sense that she would have been allowed to even board a plane at LAX if that's where her passport was confiscated. In fact, if there was a red flag on it for some reason, it's much, much more likely that that's where she would have been detained and not CDG...which seems pretty impossible that she ever would have gotten there sans passport to begin with. Or was her passport confiscated at LAX on the return trip?

Sure seems like there's another very big piece of this story missing.

One more question: was she traveling on an American passport?

Normally, the simplest answers are the best, most likely. The top reason might be a previous overstay, but at entry to the Schengen area it could be just their suspicion that she would overstay, possibly inability to show adequate funds, or potentially some criminal conviction.

Being detained 24 hours is not that unusual, if you are refused at the border, you are held until a flight can be arranged.

However the fact that her passport was confiscated at LAX hints at some issue more than a simple overstay or refusal by another country. She likely is already dealing with CBP in that case.

Worth remembering, entering another country (unless you are a citizen) is a privilege, not a right, and they really do not even need to be justified in refusing you entry.

I'm in europe myself so there's lag time as I get this info from the US. Young adult boarded the plane at LAX. She has a US passport. She flew from LAX via CDG with a final destination of Berlin...to meet her brother and her mom. She was stopped at CDG. Held 24 hours there and then put on a nonstop flight back to LAX. Passport confiscated there. Luggage in Berlin.

Hopefully it's a solvable mystery. Many good ideas here...arrest history? Presented a confusing story at CDG? Dunno.

Yes, very odd, and I agree there are probably some details not shared that probably could shed some light on the situation.

All that said, I'll just add this: "Tit for tat."

Most of us here have become well aware in recent weeks of many cases where non-US citizens have been treated quite harshly upon arrival in the Land of the Free. German teens backpacking their way around the world jailed in Hawaii. British young lady detained in Seattle for weeks in an ICE facility because she admitted to doing household chores for hosts. My own family members grilled for hours upon arrival for a family visit. There are a hundred other stories we have all seen/heard. Some worse than others. Some very concerning (to some of us), countless others that were well below the Media Outrage Threshold. And some whose experiences have been accepted as perfectly OK and routine by some here.

No judgements from me here today. I'm just saying this:

To most (IMHO, anyone who is being honest), it's quite evident that "there's a new sheriff in town" and America's immigration policies are now being enforced, lets just say, differently, than they have traditionally been experienced.

This is not lost on foreign governments. Perhaps they too have decided to "send a message" by matching - and maybe escalating - the experience for Americans arriving in their countries. Policies coming from the US government, whether trade practices or immigration enforcement, may eventually be met with similar policies as a not-so-subtle way of saying "OK, you want to go there? Well, two can play that game, lets see how you like it." There are plenty of people traveling who could fall into gray areas or edge cases. Maybe this young woman was one of those that previously would never had had any issues (YouTuber? Instragram influencer? travel blogger?) - heck, does every Rick Steves employee have a business visa every time they go to Europe? Don't know (don't care, either) but it's something I bet everyone will now be (or probably should be) increasingly diligent about nailing down.

I'm not saying this is good or bad, right or wrong, effective or a useless waste of time. But nations often do respond to policies they do not like with responses that are reciprocal. In this case, the OP's family friend may have been collateral damage - just someone that they wanted to make an example of to get their point across. Or maybe not. But human nature and the behavior of nations being what they are, I would not be shocked, SHOCKED!  to discover there was gambling going on in the casino.

Valerie, I hope things go well for your friend. I completely understand how traumatic this can be (I have my own set of kids that are still freaked out from their experience). Good luck and take care. And to everyone who has ever posted to Youtube or has a blog about your trips to Europe...pay attention to the world around you. Good luck.

"I would doubt the validity of this story if it were not from someone I actually know. "

Well I now assume that the claim of the passport being seized in France was a lie. I wonder how much of the rest of the claim of what happened was also nonsense.

Valarie, I am I reading your last post correctly that her passport was confiscated at her final destination LAX? You mention she flew to LAX ....and then that her "passport was confiscated there." Is "there" referencing LAX? If so, weird she was even allowed to board to depart the US in the first place. If LAX, surely she was given a reason...which she maybe has not shared with her parents...or her parents have chosen not to share with others.

David, separate topic: You offer good advice to everyone. Be on your Ps&Qs and have everything totally in order........and remember you are a "guest of the country to which you are traveling" and their rules are their rules.

Let's hope we all recognize the world in a year or two or three.........it is changing quickly.

That was not a lie...it was my misunderstanding... I'm 8 time zones away.

"...the claim of the passport being seized in France was a lie. I wonder how much of the rest of the claim of what happened was also nonsense."

Lie is a very strong word for what sounds like confusion from a story being told and retold. The word lie has an element of intentionality that IMHO is missing from the initial and subsequent reports. Decades ago, I was an insurance investigator and one thing I learned in that job is that it takes a while to find out the full story which is why initial reports are often flawed and third party accounts often have errors.

Given the new point, passport confiscated back at LAX, it seems more probable that it's an issue with the US.

With the current pressure on ever point (dot the i and cross the t) that has to do with immigration/border-control ("...deport millions Day one!") it seems like something was tripped by the French examination but having to do with US requests/regulations.

With all the people being held incommunicado information may be slow to come.

@David, my feeling is the same as yours.

"Before" there might have been something slightly amiss with the traveler's answers to questions, that border patrol in another country might have let slide.

"Now" they are giving back what their citizens are getting.

However the confiscation of the passport back home at LAX is mystifying. If the matter were just that CDG border patrol decided she couldn't enter Schengen, what would cause US border patrol to confiscate her passport upon her return?

As the mother of two young adults myself, I'm intimately aware that there's almost always more to the story. Though hopefully my two know by now, that as a litigation paralegal, their mom knows exactly how to question them and won't stop til she's got the entire story.

You keep saying she is a "young adult." I have no idea what that means to you.

How old is she? Is she over 18?

If she is not over 18, that could be the answer to the whole thing. If she is under 18, and not traveling with some form of proof that she has her parents/guardian permission, she is going to be sent home as a possible runaway. That could also be the reason her passport was confiscated at LAX. They don't want her doing that again. (Although the airline should have picked that up.)

If that's the reason, a parent will have to go to LAX with some way of proving they are the parent to collect the passport.

If she is over 18, then there is more to this story. It must be very serious for CBP to confiscate someone's passport.

"If she is over 18, then there is more to this story. It must be very serious for CBP to confiscate someone's passport. "

Not sure in these present times. Something as simple as a wrong initial (do they even use initials?) or other error could get the "false" document seized. But yes. Too early to say.

So bottom line, the border officials of not one but two countries deemed that there was something off with the 23 year old in question and/or her passport. The border officials in France concluded they had enough information to deny her entry into the Schengen zone. Likewise their US counterparts thought it was necessary to confiscate her passport.
As I suspected when I saw this story posted this morning, there is much more to this story than was originally posted here.

It’s of course completely speculative, but I assume that the girl had a warrant out for some reason, was flagged as a fugitive in Paris by their reading of American criminal databases, and the passport was confiscated at LAX because she is clearly a flight risk.

It’s of course completely speculative, but I assume that the girl had a warrant out for some reason, was flagged as a fugitive in Paris by their reading of American criminal databases, and the passport was confiscated at LAX because she is clearly a flight risk.

Only thing missing from that scenario is a mention of her arrest at LAX, but this "shaggy dog" story is still missing something to make any sense out of what happened.

You keep saying she is a "young adult." I have no idea what that means to you.
How old is she?

In the second sentence of her initial post, Valerie said the woman is 23.

23 years old, traveling to Berlin to visit sibling doing a study abroad.

Thanks for taking the time to share this story and hopefully you’ll continue to keep us updated. You are a well-respected poster with lots of posting history.

It sounds like she flew from LAX to CDG and was not allowed to continue her itinerary. The authorities at CDG denied her entry and sent her back to LAX where her passport was confiscated. Is that the gist?
The question to be answered is why?

I do remember 8-10 years ago transferring through LHR from Greece back to the USA and walking by an area where people were being denied entry (including someone my husband knew professionally). It looked like most people had improper paperwork. It will useful to find out how this plays out.

A selfie is all about YOU

SO?

Isn't travel all about you?
Are solo travelers to be barred from being in their own photos?

Go, VAP! Say yes to solo travel selfies!!! Woot woot!!!

Assumption- She has(had) an unexpired US passport

Fact- She boarded the plane at LAX, apparently without incident.
Fact-At CDG she was detained, refused entry into the EU/Schengen zone and returned to LAX
Fact- US officials confiscated her passport upon return at LAX.

Assumption- She was not traveling with the rest of the family that went to Berlin to visit the 'student'

Assumption- She has reported that no one has told her why she was refused entry at CDG or why the passport was confiscated at LAX upon her return.

Does that summarize the situation?

Until more facts are discovered/revealed, the suggestion to contact a politician for 'help' seems premature.

As her luggage and family are in Berlin, it seems dealing with its recovery shouldn't be that difficult.

We all eagerly await the next installment to this 'mystery'

Thanks Kim I missed that.

There is a lot of information missing from this stor.

Being denied entry can be many things. But having a passport confiscated is very serious. It's not done haphazardly.

By the way, if you are denied entry into any country or region, you will be told why.

For people in a twitter about the luggage making it to Berlin, that is not that unusual.

While generally speaking, they will pull bags if someone is not on the flight, it is not a sure thing. I have had a bag beat me home twice now, arriving on a previous flight even though I was delayed. And of course, anyone who's bag was delayed and did not arrive with them, you received it eventually, hopefully, and that was on a later flight...without you.