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Madolline Gourley was traveling from Australia to Canada when she was detained in Los Angeles.
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Gourley had planned to babysit the house in exchange for accommodation, but border officials didn’t believe her.
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Most of the comments she has received about how she was treated have been positive and empathetic.
After being detained and asked if she had an abortion by a US border officer, Madolline Gourley told Insider she was shocked by the response she received to her story going viral.
The 32-year-old was traveling from Brisbane, Australia, to Canada, where she planned to do house and cat sitting in exchange for accommodation. After landing in Los Angeles, Gourley was detained by US border officials who disbelieved her story and questioned her for three hours.
During that time, a US border officer repeatedly asked her if she was pregnant and if she had recently had an abortion. Gourley said no, but told Insider she’d thought about what the reaction would have been if she’d said yes, and whether that would have made her more likely to be expelled from the country.
“I think that’s what a lot of people who’ve read this story are most shocked about and I can see why, because of everything that’s going on out there,” she said.
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a landmark decision that recognized a person’s right to abortion.
Gourley was eventually deported for violating the terms of a visa waiver program. She said other house sitters have contacted her with similar stories of issues while traveling on this visa. Gourley said the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Australia would provide her with the appropriate papers to support her journey, but she never received them.
While she said some people think she’s lying about whether she wants to have an abortion, most of the comments she’s received have been positive and empathetic.
“People really feel sorry for the questioning and treatment I received during my detention,” she told Insider. “I think it’s inappropriate for the officer to ask the pregnancy question again, and the abortion question.”
Gourley said her treatment by the US border officer will not stop her from traveling to the US, but said if she had never visited the country before and this was her first experience, she would be mortified.
“For people who come to the United States for a vacation or a vacation, and that’s the first person they come into contact with on American soil … it doesn’t make you want to go to the United States,” said they.
Gourley has tried to contact US Customs and Border Protection about the incident, but said she has heard nothing.
US Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
Gourley previously worked as a freelancer for Business Insider.
Read the original article on Business Insider
