Indian-origin American author and entrepreneur Neal Bakshi has alleged that he was detained and questioned by US border officers after returning from a vacation in Greenland.
In an Instagram video posted three days ago, Bakshi said he was stopped after landing in the United States. Despite using Global Entry, he claimed he was pulled aside for additional screening and was initially told that it was a random check.
Bakshi, the son of Indian immigrants, was born and raised in the US and is an American citizen. He said that while being selected for additional screening was not new to him, this particular experience felt “drastically different.”
According to Bakshi, officers did not initially explain why he was being taken for further processing.
He said he was taken to a large waiting area where, according to him, the other people waiting appeared to be people of colour. He described the room as windowless and poorly lit.
Bakshi said he was later taken to a smaller room, where officers allegedly asked him for extensive personal information and questioned him about possible affiliations with certain groups.
He claimed he was eventually told that the questioning was being carried out for his own safety.
Bakshi also described witnessing an interaction between a border officer and an elderly Hispanic woman who apparently did not speak English. He alleged that the officer spoke harshly to her and questioned whether she was telling the truth.
While acknowledging that border authorities may need to stop and question people who pose genuine security concerns, Bakshi said the experience made him wonder whether some groups of Americans face greater scrutiny than others.
He questioned whether all US citizens are being treated equally at the border or whether certain sections of the population face an additional burden despite holding American citizenship.
US Customs and Border Protection has not yet publicly responded to Bakshi’s allegations.
Immigration Scrutiny Under Focus
The incident comes amid heightened debate over immigration enforcement and border checks in the US.
The Trump administration has pursued tighter immigration, visa and entry-related measures, arguing that stronger enforcement is necessary for national security and to curb illegal immigration.
At the same time, immigration advocates have raised concerns about reports of legal travellers, including US citizens and Green Card holders, facing longer questioning or additional screening at airports.
Several travellers have also shared accounts of being pulled aside for extra checks despite holding valid documents or trusted-traveller status such as Global Entry.
Bakshi’s experience has now added to that wider debate over how US border authorities carry out additional screening and whether such checks are applied fairly across different groups of travellers.
