Kristen Gray, the American digital nomad who was deported from Indonesia following a controversial Twitter thread about moving to Bali, apologized but maintained her innocence in her parting words before she left the country, according to her lawyer.
Immigration authorities announced Gray’s and her girlfriend’s deportation on Tuesday after determining that they may have violated a number of immigration laws, including violating the purpose of her stay permit and “spreading information that could unsettle the public” with her viral Twitter thread.
“The last thing she said was that she was not guilty. If it was considered as an offense, she apologizes,” Gray’s legal representative, Erwin Siregar, said today.
In a statement to the press, Gray previously said herself that she is not guilty.
“I am not guilty. I have not overstayed my visa. I have not made money in Indonesian rupiah in Indonesia. I put out a statement about LGBT, and I’m being deported because of LGBT,” Gray said.
The 28-year-old flew out of Indonesia via Jakarta earlier this morning after getting on a plane from Ngurah Rai International Airport headed for the capital yesterday evening. Gray was deported alongside her girlfriend Saundra Michelle Alexander, and both are headed for Los Angeles.
Gray’s tweets from last Saturday sparked a fierce, multifaceted online debate that touched on foreigner privilege, immigration, and unsustainable tourism model, among others. Many Indonesians accused her of peddling “tips” to get around the country’s immigration policies amid COVID-19 travel restrictions, which was among officials’ point of considerations in deporting the American.
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