Wellness entrepreneur slams Biden after Irish stepkids were denied entry to US

A New York-based owner of an aromatherapy brand has gone on a lengthy rant against President Biden, slinging profanities and chiding him as a ‘hall monitor’ after her Irish stepchildren were denied entry into the US to see their dad.

Jackie Smith Foden, 36, is married to English rugby player Ben Foden, 35, who currently plays for Rugby United New York, and the two share a 14-month old daughter. 

However Ben also has two kids with his ex-wife, Irish singer Una Healy, 39, and had planned for them to spend the summer with him in New York.

But when Jackie flew to Dublin to pick up nine-year-old Aoife and six-year-old Tadhg, immigration officers refused to let the children board the US-bound plane, citing Biden’s travel ban on children of non-US citizens. 

Describing herself as ‘a complete mess’ over the ‘nightmare,’ Jackie took to Instagram to rant against the ‘ridiculous’ regulations, bashing the President and slamming anti-vaxxers who tout conspiracy theories and refuse to get the shot.

Jackie owns The Goddess Line, an environmentally-friendly and cruelty-free aromatherapy company that was created in 2001.

She and Ben, who previously played for the Northampton Saints in England, married in August 2019 just two weeks after they met, and nine months later, they welcomed their daughter Farrah.

Ben had previously been married to Una, who rose to fame in the girl group The Saturdays — but they split in 2018 after Ben allegedly cheated. Together, the former couple had two kids, who are currently still in Ireland with their mom. 

But that wasn’t how the family had planned to spent their summer, as Jackie explained in a series on Instagram stories.  

‘For anyone who asks why my two stepbabies are not with us this summer… here’s the nightmare we’re currently living,’ she began.

‘I currently just spent the past month organizing their trips over to the US — getting tickets booked. Hours on the phone with Aer Lingus making sure their stepmother can bring them over (immediate family can travel to US, by definition, children by marriage are immediate), booking their ESTAs, etc.’ 

However, despite the work that she did to prepare for any potential issues regarding the children traveling with a stepparent, Jackie ran into another problem when it came to picking up the kids, who were prevented from boarding their flight in Dublin. 

Immigration officials cited the rules of President Biden’s travel ban, which prohibits the children of non-US citizens from entering the country.  

Although Ben is currently living in the US, he is not a citizen, and is currently still in the process of applying for a green card. While that is still waiting approval, he is unable to leave the country, which is why Jackie flew to Ireland to collect his kids.  

‘Ben can’t travel because he is getting his green card processed and can’t leave the country,’ Jackie explained. 

‘I take the red eye to Dublin last night. When I checked in at JFK the attendants checked on the kids’ return flights. Everyone was made aware of my plans to turn right back around with my stepkids.

‘I pick them up in Dublin today, only to have their tickets blocked by immigration.

‘An hour at check-in trying to get them through and then another 1-2 hours+ stuck in immigration offices, only to be told that c*** face President Biden, probably in his attempt to appear more strict on COVID policies than Trump, that there is a ban on EU citizens and there’s nothing possible we can do other than fly to Turkey or Mexico, quarantine for 14 days, and then bring them over from there.’

Jackie admitted she and the children were devastated and praised their parents for being able to calm them down.

‘Having to break these poor babies hearts who had their hopes up for a fun summer with their dad and sister, we’re all not okay right now,’ she said.

‘Una was a rock star with them. They were on the phone with their dad. Both Una and he calmed them down. I am very much not okay and I am a complete mess.’

The family is now looking into options for alternative plans over the summer.

She wrote: ‘We will [be] filing for emergency travel for Ben and probably be spending the rest of the summer in England/Ireland when Ben’s rugby season is done.’ 

‘The fact that there’s a ban on EU citizens into the US is f***ing political. Honestly so over Biden already. (And Audits on small businesses and crypto investors, honestly please are there no capable like non [centenarian] white males that we can’t find to run our damn country? It’s getting f***ing lame).’

She also went on to wag a finger at unvaccinated Americans, arguing that if they get sick or die from COVID-19 now that a vaccine is widely available, it’s their own fault. 

‘If my stepkids came over and brought COVID with them, and you are obese or have asthma or at risk of dying, the fact that you haven’t gotten vaxxed yet is on you. [Because] realistically, if you’re health, at most, you’ll get the f***ing flu.

‘Everyone needs to get over not trusting science and get this f***ing vax so we can all move on with our lives. NYC is 70% vaccinated, and NORMAL again. And only a little magnetic. 

‘None of us are dropping dead from the new WiFi 5G vaccine tracking device implants in our arm, so get the f*** over your conspiracy theories and do the right thing so our d***head president doesn’t need to look like the strong responsible hall monitor he’s trying to portray anymore, and can lift these detrimental bans,’ she raged.

‘Families are still being torn apart, for too long now, for a flu, that’s not even a threat to weaker ppl BECAUSE THEY CAN ACCESS A VACCINE,’ she continued. 

Jackie also noted that the children have, in fact, been to the US since the start of the pandemic, and were able to enter the country during the previous administration. 

The ‘Presidential Proclamations on Novel Coronavirus’ were set out by the White House in January 2021, and are yet to be updated amid the vaccine rollout.

‘They travelled with us back and forth last summer to America no problem at all, on our marriage certificate. This all happened literally because of a new presidential proclamation in Biden’s attempt to appear more strict on COVID than Trump was. That’s it,’ she said.

‘This f***ing proclamation. This ban on EU citizens is ridiculous. No one is America is dying anymore of COVID, and the rare ones that are, didn’t get vaxxed when they could have… but for the most part, in America, it’s done, it’s over, we’re all moving on, this is insane.

‘Get your vax and Biden get this s*** together or f*** off [sic],’ she concluded.

The separation may be especially hard on the family given that, before the pandemic, Ben had told MailOnline that they were considering a move to England.

‘We’re planning to move back to England…and buy a house in Cheshire!’ he said.