US Citizen Detained After Visiting Canada: ‘Treated Like a Criminal’

A U.S. citizen says he was detained at the northern border while returning from Canada.

Bachir Atallah and his wife, Jessica Fakhri, say they were stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in Vermont on Sunday while returning from a brief family trip.

“I literally drove my car to Canada for the weekend, and on the way back, I was treated like a criminal,” Atallah, a New Hampshire real estate attorney who has been an American citizen for 10 years, told NBC10 Boston.

Newsweek has contacted CBP for further comment via email outside of normal office hours.

Canada Border — A truck drives on its way to enter the United States at a border crossing at the Canada-U.S. border in Blackpool, Quebec, Canada, on February 2, 2025.

ANDREJ IVANOV/AFP via Getty Images

Why It Matters

Federal immigration authorities have been empowered to carry out President Donald Trump‘s plans for mass deportations, a key campaign promise that has garnered significant support from his Republican base. While Trump has emphasized that most deportations will focus on individuals with criminal records, recent reports have highlighted concerns, as people with valid documentation and no criminal convictions have been detained. Despite the president’s vow to prioritize serious criminals, numerous green card holders, U.S. citizens, and legal permanent residents have found themselves caught up in Trump’s hardline crackdown on immigration.

What To Know

A CBP official has claimed that Atallah’s account is “blatantly false and sensationalized.”

“He asked me, ‘Exit the vehicle right now,’ and he reached for his gun,” Atallah said. “I said, ‘OK, I’m exiting the vehicle, keep your gun at your waist.”

“They handcuffed me, they twisted my arm, my wrist,” he said. “They walked me inside, and I was looking at my wife in the car.”

“It was like a shock for me,” Fakhri said.

The real estate attorney asked why he was being detained, according to NBC10 Boston.

“Even if you ask questions, they say, ‘We don’t know, it’s the government,'” he said.

Atallah says he began feeling unwell and asked for medical assistance. An EMS report indicated he had high blood pressure and required additional care, but he declined treatment after U.S. Border Patrol agents explained the next steps they planned to take.

“They’re definitely going to escort me to the hospital and have an officer guard me and being me back and start from zero,” he said.

Atallah says CBP agents asked to access his email on his phone, but he refused, citing attorney-client privilege.

“So I had to, under duress, give him permission to look through my email, through my privileged information, and he made me write a statement, signed by me, saying that I gave him permission to look through the email,” Atallah said.

After several requests, Atallah says CBP contacted his sister, an immigration attorney. Nearly five hours later, he and his wife were released—and are now pursuing legal action.

Reports have emerged that several legal residents and even some American citizens have been caught up in enforcement operations.

On March 8, Palestinian student activist Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder, was detained in front of his wife, who is pregnant and a U.S. citizen, at their home in a Columbia University-owned building.

ICE detained Jensy Machado, a naturalized U.S. citizen and Trump supporter, in northern Virginia.

What People Are Saying

CBP Assistant Commissioner Hilton Beckham said: “The traveler’s accusations are blatantly false and sensationalized. CBP officers acted in accordance with established protocols. Upon arrival at the port of entry, the traveler was appropriately referred to secondary inspection—a routine, lawful process that occurs daily, and can apply for any traveler. Officers worked to ensure an attorney-client privilege was respected during the electronic media search. The traveler provided written consent to a limited search of his electronic device.

Celine Atallah, Bachir’s sister, told NBC10 Boston: “It’s not about the immigrants. It’s coming to us Americans, and it’s going to go after all of us.”

Bachir Atallah said: “I really thought things would change after this administration, when we have Mr. Trump in office, things would change to the better. Things actually changed to the worse.”