A real estate attorney and his wife say federal authorities stopped them when they crossed into Vermont.
A New Hampshire real estate attorney and American citizen returning home from Canada says he was detained at the border without an explanation.
Bachir Atallah and his wife, Jessica Fakhri, were traveling back from a quick family trip Sunday when they say U.S. Customs and Border Protection stopped them when reentering the country in Vermont.
"I literally drove my car to Canada for the weekend, and on the way back, I was treated like a criminal," said Atallah, who has been a U.S. citizen for 10 years.
An official for U.S. Customs and Border Patrol on Tuesday called Atallah's account "blatantly false and sensationalized." Read the full statement below.
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Atallah recalled being forced from his car.
"He asked me, 'Exit the vehicle right now,' and he reached for his gun," he said. "I said, 'OK, I'm exiting the vehicle, keep your gun at your waist."
Hours before, Atallah was celebrating Palm Sunday with his family.
"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 immediately questioned why he was being detained.
"Even if you ask questions, they say, 'We don't know, it's the government,'" he said.
Atallah says he started to feel sick and requested medical attention. A report filled out by an EMS team determined Atallah was experiencing high blood pressure and needed further medical attention, which he refused after he says U.S. Border Patrol agents explained what they would do next.
"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 requested to look into his email on his phone, which he refused because of attorney client privilege.
"So I had to, under duress, give him permission to look through my email, through my priveleged 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 called his sister, who is an immigration attorney.
"It's not about the immigrants," Celine Atallah, Bachir's sister, told NBC10 Boston. "It's coming to us Americans, and it's going to go after all of us."
After nearly five hours, Bachir Atallah says he and his wife were released. They are now pursuing legal action.
"I really thought things would change after this administration, when we have Mr. Trump in office, things would change to the better," Atallah said. "Things actually changed to the worse."
Atallah is planning to leave for Lebanon in a few days, and he is not sure what will happen when he tries to return.
Customs and Border Protection responded to a request for comment on Tuesday, with Assistant Commissioner Hilton Beckham sharing this statement:
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.
