A Czech musician who attended graduate school in the United States and has returned several times to perform said he was detained by ICE and forced to return home, leaving him “shaken to the core,” according to reporting in The Columbus Dispatch.
Jaroslav Skuta, a clarinetist from Prague, was scheduled to perform several free concerts, including at Kent State University, where he studied in 2019. But the concert series ended up being cancelled after Skuta’s ICE ordeal.
“On July 1, as I arrived in the United States, I was detained by immigration officers at the Detroit airport,” Skuta said. “What followed was one of the most humiliating and traumatizing experiences of my life. I was held in custody for hours, with my phone and all personal devices taken away.
“I was subjected to aggressive, demeaning interrogation and threats of jail time,” he continued. “Despite having all the necessary documentation and clear evidence of the cultural and non-commercial nature of our project, I was treated with suspicion and hostility from the very beginning. After 5 hours of interrogation, I was denied entry and forcibly sent back home to Prague.”
An ICE spokesperson said in a statement that Skuta didn’t have the right visa to enter the United States as a working musician.
Skuta had attended Kent State under a scholarship provided by the family of Betty Hejma-Sweet, who said she was devastated by his treatment at the hands of the Department of Homeland Security.
“I’m embarrassed,” she said. “I don’t know what this country has come to. I am ashamed of our system and our government. They are dehumanizing people.”
Skuta stated in an email that he hoped to return to the U.S. “when the climate becomes more welcoming to international artists and cultural exchange, I will be able to return and rebuild what was lost,” The Dispatch reported.