NBC10 Boston - ‘Treated like a criminal': US citizen says he was detained returning from Canada

Bachir Atallah, a real estate attorney from New Hampshire, says he and his wife, Jessica Fakhri, were stopped crossing from Canada into Vermont

By Jericho Tran • Published April 15, 2025 • Updated 32 mins ago



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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