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A New England real estate attorney and U.S. citizen says he and his wife are pursuing legal action after they were detained at the Vermont-Canadian border without explanation.

Bachir Atallah says he was handcuffed and then held by Customs and Border Patrol for several hours last weekend. Bachir spoke with NHPR’s Morning Edition host Rick Ganley about his experience. His sister, Celine Atallah, joined the conversation as well. She’s an immigration attorney here in New England.

Transcript

Bachir Atallah: They handcuffed me. That's not a way to – I think it's unconstitutional. I would say that was an arrest, not not even a detention. They arrested me. You have to understand something. I did not pose a risk of flight. They had my car keys, right? Also, they could not possibly or reasonably say, you know, a crime is about to be committed. I was there. I was not armed. I had nowhere to go. There's no reason for them to handcuff me in public like this. In front of my wife, they put handcuffs on me and twisted my wrist and walked me in, and they made me feel like a criminal.

Rick Ganley: You were just coming back into New Hampshire from this family trip.

Bachir Atallah: I was coming back home. I was coming back home at the Vermont border, yeah.

Rick Ganley: Right. And I mean, can you tell me that after the several hours of this detention, they did not offer you any reason?

Bachir Atallah: Nothing. I asked, what's going on? I asked the supervisor what happened. [They were] like, "Oh, we don't know. It's our government." Like, okay, it's your government. You don't know. You just don't want to share it with me. He's like, "Well, I advise you to get a redress number." A is actually if you have, let's say a name that's a special name like my name, like my last name, they advise frequent travelers to get a redress number. I said I have that. I do have a redress number so they know who I am. This has been happening for a long time, but this last time was so humiliating. I felt harassed. I was in handcuffs. I was in a very cold environment. They did not give me my shoes. They did not give us jackets, nothing. And they actually did not allow me to speak with my attorney, at least for the first three and a half hours.

Rick Ganley: Now, Celine, when Bachir was finally able to get a hold of you, what was your reaction when you first learned about what happened?

Celine Atallah: I was shocked because, like my brother said, the CBP officers didn't call me until around 8:50 p.m., which is after more than three hours of my brother's detention – or arrest at this point. That's what I call it to be more legally accurate, because this is what I believe happened to my brother. So when my brother called me on the way out with his wife, and I heard the story of what happened, I was terrified. I stayed with them on the phone on the way back, because they had to drive very late back to Massachusetts. And my brother was already suffering from an anxiety attack. He wasn't feeling well. His face didn't look good to me on FaceTime, and his wife was in shock. I mean, that's my brother. In the end, I deal with many cases as an immigration attorney and as a person who actually represented Americans unlawfully detained or held hostage in extreme authoritarian regimes, usually. And I know how these governments treat our Americans, but I never expected that our own government would treat our own citizens the same way they treated my brother.

Rick Ganley: Bachir, you're in Lebanon right now. You travel quite frequently. Do you have reservations about coming back to the U.S.?

Bachir Atallah: I have reservations, I'm coming back June 15.

Rick Ganley: Are you worried?

Bachir Atallah: I am very worried this time, very worried. I'll tell you why I'm worried. Because first of all, it's going to be a long flight for me. Coming back after a long flight, I'm already exhausted. I just want to get home. And usually you would think with airports, they would be more strict than regular land and sea ports because you have a bigger volume of people coming into the country. I mean, again, I need to tell you something. I've been experiencing this for the last two or three years, but I was able to handle it. I would say it's secondary, it's normal. But this time they handcuffed me. They went through my attorney client privileged information, and they put us in a very cold environment cell, you know, and my health speaks for itself. Matter of fact, I'm here in Lebanon. I have an appointment to go check my heart out at the hospital in a couple of days, because I'm still not feeling all there.

Rick Ganley: Customs and Border Protection officials did release a statement earlier this week saying officers "acted in accordance with established protocols" and that Bashir's detention was routine and part of a lawful process. Celine, what's your response, especially given your experience as an immigration attorney?

(Editor’s note: The full statement from Customs and Border Protection is below.)

Celine Atallah: Yes. I mean, I read that statement. First of all, they didn't even talk to us or tell us any reasons. And they had the audacity to put that statement, you know, saying that my brother's account is false and all these things and then saying that this is routine protocol. This is not routine protocol. I have a question for every American hearing us right now, okay? And I know that a lot of New Hampshire residents also listen to you and a lot in New England. Do you think it's routine to be handcuffed, even when you are fully cooperative with the authorities without any criminal record being abused this way, thrown in a cold cell, separated from your wife, humiliated, insulted, your rights all violated, is that considered routine protocol for CBP? Is that what is becoming routine to us in America? Is that what America stands for? Are these our values as Americans? Is that our Constitution? CBP, I know that their authority at the border is expanded, but it's not absolute. National security does not justify violating our constitutional rights as Americans. And I think it's baffling what they said instead of, you know, trying to correct what they did or apologizing for their actions. So this is why we're going to proceed in court. And then in court, we'll see who's saying the truth there.

Rick Ganley: Well, you both are pursuing legal action against the federal government. Bachir, what are you hoping is the outcome here?

Bachir Atallah: My hope for the outcome is for this to stop, not only with me. Because, as Celine said, I'm also an attorney. I'm also involved with many immigrants who are my clients as well on the real estate side. But since I'm an attorney, they would ask me. They're worried. There's one thing I would say to keep the country safe, to keep the borders under control, to basically – even I want to go as far as I tell you – deport illegal immigrants who never actually applied or never actually – they were afforded the opportunity, but they chose not to fix their legal status, and they committed crimes. I'm with our administration and sending these people away.

But this country was built by immigrants. I'm an immigrant myself. My parents came here when I was 16. I wasn't born in this country. I mean, yes, I've been here for 25 years. I've been an attorney for over ten years. I'm a proud American citizen. But I do have immigrants in my family. I have immigrant friends, and this country was built by immigrants. Immigrants provide a lot to this country. You cannot just have anyone with an accent or anyone of a different skin color be treated differently. And just a message for Mr. Trump, he needs to understand that a lot of voters who actually voted for him and gave him their voice are actually people of different cultures, are actually American citizens. They were born somewhere else, whether they're Arab Americans, Black Americans, Muslim Americans, Latino Americans. These were the people that voted for him. Not only, I'm sorry to say, but not only not only white Americans voted for him. So he needs to understand. He got our votes. He needs to prove that he deserved it.

Rick Ganley: Celine, what about you? Are you looking for an apology, for more transparency? Are you looking for a change in policy? What is it that you're hoping is the outcome?

Celine Atallah: I'm looking for transparency. I mean, an apology is something. Okay, that would be nice to have. But more accountability that's what I'm looking for because this shouldn't happen anymore to others. Again, my brother is a lawyer and he has a voice. I'm a lawyer. I have a voice. Look, we're blessed enough to have you shed light on our story as well. But there is many suffering in silence, and this can affect all of us. And I want to make sure that this doesn't happen again to any other American citizen. And also people who are, you know, lawful, permanent residents or people who pose no risk to our country. This should not happen to people who are coming to America. People come to us here, not only because of our advancement in education, technology and all these things. They come here for something way bigger. For what America stands for: our freedom, our democracy, our dignity, the way we treat our own citizens and others around the world. Now people are terrified to come here. And this is horrible. We need to make sure that this doesn't happen, you know, to my brother, to anyone else and whoever you know. And then CBP, these officers, our institution who committed that, they need to be held accountable and they need to be punished for their actions in order to reform our system in a way to protect us all.

(Editor's note: In a statement published this week, Customs and Border Patrol officials 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.)