The teens claimed CBP targeted them because they hadn’t booked hotels for their entire stay in Hawaii.
“They found it suspicious that we hadn’t fully booked our accommodations for the entire five weeks in Hawaii,” Pohl said. “We wanted to travel spontaneously. Just like we had done in Thailand and New Zealand.”
Too late for these two, but why not just find the name and address of a US resident and say you’re staying with them for the entire visit? I’ve stayed with friends and even slept on the porch of people I didn’t know very well, when traveling. I’ve also stayed in two hostels in Honolulu when I was in my early 20s. You just kind of show up at those places and ask for some beds.