The prominent French historian has said that he was detained for more than 10 hours in the Houston and threatened with deportation, in the latest of several examples of high-profile individuals being questioned extensively at the US airports before being allowed entry.
Henry Rousso flew from Paris to the Houston on last Wednesday to take part in the symposium at Texas A&M University but was wrongly detained and almost sent back to the France after a border guard failed to understand Rousso’s entitlements under the visa rules, the university officials said.
While he was held by the officials, Rousso contacted the university officials who attempted to secure his release. Rousso was waiting for customs officials to send him back to Paris as an illegal alien on the first flight out, Richard Golsan, a professor at the Texas A&M, told the Eagle.
Following scorn poured on the Donald Trump by the French president and the mayor of Paris after the US president suggested in a speech last week that Paris is unsafe for the American tourists, this incident has sparked fresh outrage in the France. A presidential candidate,Emmanuel Macron, tweeted on Sunday to declare that “there is no excuse for what happened to Henry Rousso. Our country is open to scientists and intellectuals.”
Fatma Marouf, the director of A&M Immigrant Rights Clinic, told the Guardian on Sunday that she found out about the Rousso’s situation at about 10pm on Wednesday night and worked to get him freed, which happened three or four hours later. She said that Rousso came to the US on the visitor’s visa which normally does not allow the recipients to work or receive compensation, but there are exceptions for some academic activities, such as giving the lectures or speeches.
After landing in the Houston he was taken to an interview room where an officer suspected him of travelling on the another, expired, visa, which he wrote in the Huffington Post’s French edition. He credited the intervention of the university officials with securing his release and said that he did not know why he was singled out for the special scrutiny, but doubted it was by chance.
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Last week it was reported that border agents in the Florida detained the US citizen son of the boxer Muhammad Ali and asked if he was a Muslim, while the celebrated Australian children’s author Mem Fox said that she “collapsed and sobbed like a baby” after being held at the Los Angeles international airport for two hours, insulted and also questioned about her visa status.
Rousso did not immediately return a comment request on the Sunday. He is scheduled to fly back to France on Sunday – accompanied to the airport by the French consulate official to ensure his check-in process goes smoothly, Golsan told to the Guardian.
Two more French academics are set to visit the Texas A&M for a conference this week, he said. Golsan added that there was concern in the academic community that Rousso’s predicament was a sign that the anti-immigrant “spirit of Trump” has emboldened enforcement officials to behave overzealously. The professor said that even though an immigration agent called him to confirm the details in Rousso’s story at about 4.30pm on Wednesday, he was not released for another eight hours or so and grew anxious that he might be shackled and handcuffed if forced to fly back to the France.
Mrudula Duddempudi
