June 25, 2025: TD Ivana Bacik flashes 'JD Vance baby meme' in the Dail Eireann.

TD Ivana Bacik, the head of Ireland's Labour Party, highlighted the recent case of a Norwegian tourist being sent home from the US, supposedly for having a meme of US Vice President JD Vance on his phone, while criticizing the new US policy of vetting Irish visa applicants' social media.

Bacik said in the Dáil Éireann today, Wednesday, June 25, that thousands of young Irish people work in the US on J1 visas every year, and that it is generally a "very positive experience." She, too, did a J1 in Boston many years ago.

"However, things have changed drastically under US President Trump, with the recent authoritarian announcement that students will have to hand over social media accounts," Bacik said.

"We are watching a major incursion on freedom of expression unthinkable in a Western democracy."

Bacik told the Dáil how a Norwegian tourist was reportedly detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at Newark Airport and sent home because he, as she said, "had on his phone a meme depicting Vice President JD Vance as a baby."

Earlier this week, the tourist - Mads Mikkelsen - told Norwegian publication Nordlys that immigration officials at Newark Airport stopped him for questioning and quizzed him “about drug trafficking, terrorist plots, and right-wing extremism," which he said was “totally without reason.” 

Mikkelsen said he gave officials access to his mobile phone after he was threatened with imprisonment or a fine of $5,000.

The so-called 'JD Vance baby meme,' which first appeared on social media back in October, was on Mikkelsen's phone, as was a picture of him with a homemade wooden pipe.

“Both pictures had been automatically saved to my camera roll from a chat app, but I really didn’t think that these innocent pictures would put a stop to my entry into the country,” Mikkelsen told Nordlys.

He was put back on a flight to Oslo the same day.

However, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has denied Mikkelsen's claims, instead saying he was refused entry for "admitted drug use."

Mikkelsen has since told Nordlys that he admitted to having used cannabis on two occasions, though said: "It’s legal in both places, so in my mind it was irrelevant."

He further told Nordlys that the written decision he was given had incorrect information, including that he was a Spanish passport holder and that he was carrying an actual pipe.

Mikkelsen feels he was randomly selected in order to meet a 'deportation quota.'

Continuing her comments in the Dáil on Wednesday, Bacik said: "It is extraordinary that this amusing meme depicting a public person would be used as an excuse to detain a young person for five hours and then deport him back to Oslo.

"I welcome the Tánaiste's commitment to raise this serious issue with the US ambassador but, as the line Minister for issuing visas, what can Deputy O'Callaghan do to reassure young people here who hope to travel to the US on a J-1 visa but are fearful of this treatment?"

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Responding, TD Jim O'Callaghan, Ireland's Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, said: "There is very little I can do about the US immigration system.

"I am trying to put rules on the Irish immigration system. I cannot control the US immigration system.

"It is regrettable that these new measures are being introduced by the United States.

"I welcome the fact that the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach have indicated that they think the measures are inappropriate. We will mention it to the US authorities.

"Hundreds of thousands - probably millions - of Irish people have a great time on J-1 visas. They are still doing it this year, they have done it in the past, and I think it will continue into the future."

Bacik replied: "It is hugely concerning."

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On X, the Labour Party posted a 'warning' to J1 students that said "apparently memeing is now a threat to national security."