A French aerospace scientist travelling to the National Centre for Scientific Research, in Houston,Texas, was barred entry to the country and was sent back to France, after immigration officials found what they described as “hateful messages about President Trump” on his phone. An FBI investigation was also launched on the scientist but subsequently dropped following pressure from the French government.
The French Minister of Education Philippe Battiste said that France will always stand behind its researchers and their freedom of speech.
The US government has been applying tougher measures on border and immigration control as part of the government’s plan to detain foreigners from the US. European tourists who enter the US without proper paperwork or the necessary permits are reportedly being detained, in some cases for more than thirty days.
In another case, a German national in the United States was detained, strip-searched and bullied by ICE officers to hand over his Green Card, after he was flagged for having a past criminal record of marijuana possession.
The US regularly deports Europeans who enter the US illegally, but press reports indicate an increasingly aggressive approach by US border and immigration authorities toward Europeans under the new Trump Presidency.
Website Editor
Historian and Publisher
Leave a Reply