An American citizen says he and his wife were detained for hours by U.S. border agents when they returned to the United States after a short trip to Canada.

Bachir Atallah told CNN he and his wife, Jessica, were driving back into the U.S. Sunday evening after visiting family in Canada for the weekend when U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents stopped them for a secondary inspection at the Highgate Springs checkpoint in Vermont.

Atallah, who is originally from Lebanon, said he was told to park his Range Rover and hand over his keys. When he asked the officer why, the officer placed his hand on his gun and told him to exit his vehicle, Atallah said. He said he was then handcuffed and led into a cell, where his belongings were confiscated. He said his wife was put into a cell across from his.

“Seeing my wife’s mascara running because she was crying, it was heartbreaking,” Atallah said. “It wasn’t humane.”

  • shawn1122@lemm.ee
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    7 hours ago

    White people may be detained to. I know one elderly white man who was made to repeat ‘I love the US’ three times before being allowed entry.

    He did it and managed to get in unscathed so perhaps this is not the best example. But I imagine they would have detained him if he refused.

    • dmtalon@infosec.pub
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      6 hours ago

      Ya, I’m sure, but I’d bet your odds of being harassed are greatly reduced. That is a special kind of CBP agent that required them to recite that to continue… What a world we’re in…