German Tourists Deported From US for Not Booking Hotel

[FBaggins]

6. It isn't at all uncommon in my experience

Plenty of European countries have similar requirements, and (at least where I've traveled) the hotels take your passports when checking in and report your stay to the authorities.

Supposedly the 2 also said the planned to work in Hawaii.

That's what the claim was ("Both claimed they were touring California but later admitted they intended to work — something strictly prohibited under US immigration laws for these visas" ). The girls claim that they never said that ("They contained sentences we didn’t actually say" )...

... but "While they’re back home, Pohl and Lepere told Ostee Zeitung they won’t let the US get in the way of their globetrotting and are already laying plans for a trip to Mexico and a five-week stint in Costa Rica — where they intend to find work at a surf camp."

I'll just say... if you can't afford to stay in Costa Rica without working... You definitely can't afford Hawaii.