"A young French tennis coach who once lived the American dream describes being detained, shackled and expelled under the Trump administration's tightened border rules. JUANA SUMMERS, HOST: There was a sharp drop in the number of European tourists visiting the U.S. last year compared to 2024. Many said the volatile political climate was the reason. Frightening stories of Europeans getting caught in the Trump administration's reinforced border controls have also dampened desires to cross the Atlantic. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley brings us one French person's experience."
"Twenty-six-year-old Julien Pereira agrees to come to my apartment to tell me his story. With a warm smile and polite manners, he's the kind of young man any parent would be proud of. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) PEREIRA: (Grunting). (SOUNDBITE OF TENNIS RACKET SMACKING) BEARDSLEY: Pereira played four years of varsity tennis at a Christian college in Georgia. He shows me videos. During the summers, he was a tennis coach at a club in Connecticut, his American dream come true."
"The plan was for him to stay for a couple of weeks in Canada while the paperwork was being done. But he was denied entry to Canada with his expired student visa and arrested by U.S. Border Patrol. PEREIRA: Yeah, I was in shock. I was like, guys, like, I'm really trying to do the right thing. I always made sure, like, I was legal in the country."
Tightened U.S. border controls and a volatile political climate caused a sharp drop in European tourists. A 26-year-old French tennis coach who built a life in the U.S. played varsity tennis at a college in Georgia and coached in Connecticut during summers. He accepted a permanent job but faced unforeseen work visa delays and planned to stay in Canada while paperwork completed. He was denied entry to Canada because of an expired student visa and was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol, then detained, shackled and expelled. He says he was shocked and had always tried to maintain legal status.
Read at www.npr.org
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]