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CBP Returns Electronics to Vermont Superintendent as Global Entry Remains Revoked

Chavarria’s district demands a detailed accounting of what agents accessed on his devices as his expedited reentry privileges remain suspended

 “I feel like I’m being told over and over that this is not my country, that it doesn’t matter that I’m a U.S. citizen, I do not belong here,” said Vermont school superintendent Wilmer Chavarria, who says he was subjected to an “abusive interrogation” at the hands of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in Texas.
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Overview

  • Wilmer Chavarria was held for four to five hours by CBP agents at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport after returning from a family trip to Nicaragua.
  • CBP officers searched and seized his school-issued phone and laptop without allowing him to monitor the review.
  • His devices have been returned with no clarification on which files, if any, were accessed.
  • U.S. Customs and Border Protection revoked Chavarria’s Global Entry membership, citing eligibility concerns without further explanation.
  • Chavarria and Winooski School District officials are demanding full transparency from CBP while national social media users criticize the agency’s handling of a naturalized U.S. citizen.