Foreign Ministry has confirmed that a Croatian woman has been detained in Los Angeles.
After the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) informed the media that a Croatian citizen had been detained at the international airport in Los Angeles (LAX) and that she was waiting to be deported back to Paris from where she came to the United States, Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs published a statement on Monday afternoon, reports Jutarnji List on January 30, 2017.
“The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, through its Consulate General in Los Angeles, has been in contact with the relevant authorities of the United States which have confirmed that a Croatian citizen, after arriving to the airport in Los Angeles on Saturday, 28 January 2017, had not been granted entry into the United States during a normal immigration process. This had nothing to do with the decision made by US President Donald Trump signed on January 27, 2017”, announced the Ministry.
“Due to the Law on Personal Data Protection, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs cannot go into the details of the case. We remind everyone that a valid visa in the passport does not represent a guaranteed entry into a country, considering that border control procedure is performed at the point of entry. While carrying out border control procedure, the border police has the authority to abolish/revoke a visa if it determines that the requirements for entry into the territory of a particular country have not been met”, reads the statement issued by the Ministry.
The information was also confirmed by Croatian Minister of Foreign Affairs Davor Ivo Stier. The case of Croatian citizen who was not allowed entry in the United States had nothing to do with the executive order signed by new US president Donald Trump on the prohibition of entry for citizens of seven predominantly Muslim nations, said Stier.
“I can confirm that the citizen had been denied entry, but that is not related with the executive order”, said Stier to reporters. When asked if she was perhaps returned due to an invalid visa, Stier said that “due to the law on protection of personal information, we cannot go deeper into details”.
