Alistair KITCHEN

In June 2025, Australian writer Alistair Kitchen, was detained at the USA border and deported, reportedly based upon his personal writings about student protests and President Donald Trump’s administration while enrolled as a masters student at Columbia University.  In a blog post, Kitchen said he left Melbourne for New York on 12 June  and was detained for 12 hours by USA Customs and Border Protection officials during a layover in Los Angeles after being pulled aside for secondary screening. He was questioned in connection with his reporting on pro-Palestinian student protests at Columbia, which he published on his personal blog, Kitchen Counter.  Kitchen, who had moved back to Australia from New York in 2024, said that interrogators asked him about his views on a one-state versus two-state solution in relation to Israel and Palestine. 

Alistair Kitchen is a journalist, writer and photographer, working mostly in essay, reportage, and criticism. His work has appeared in The Saturday Paper, The New Yorker, New York Magazine, Meanjin, Overland, Island, and Kitchen Counter.