A respected gay school superintendent from Vermont was detained, separated from his husband, and subjected to “inhumane” treatment by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers while re-entering the country from Nicaragua earlier this week.
Wilmer Chavarria, superintendent of the Winooski School District, says he was held for over five hours at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Monday during Global Entry processing—a program designed to expedite border checks for pre-approved, low-risk travellers.
Chavarria’s husband, high school teacher Cyrus Dudgeon, was allowed to pass through, but Chavarria was detained alone.
“They falsely stated that I, a U.S. citizen, have no Constitutional rights at a point of entry, and officers became increasingly agitated as I continued to assert my rights regardless,” Chavarria wrote in an email to his school district.
Officers confiscated his phone and district-issued laptop, which contained private student data. He was reportedly interrogated in four separate rooms, with as many as four agents questioning him at once, demanding device passcodes and pressing for details about his marriage.
“It was nothing short of surreal and the definition of psychological terror,” he said.
Politically Targeted?
Speaking to WCAX News, Chavarria suggested the experience may have been politically motivated.
“I’ve been very vocal and a big advocate for the protection of vulnerable communities in the state of Vermont and the nation,” he said. “I’m in a very critical and visible position, and I’m not surprised when things like this happen.”
Originally born in a Honduran refugee camp, Chavarria grew up in Nicaragua and later moved to the U.S. as a student. He became a naturalised citizen in 2018 and has led the Winooski School District since 2023.
“You think it’s less likely to happen when you’re a full U.S. citizen,” he told Seven Days Vermont. “That’s why I was so shaken by the whole thing.”
Backlash from Vermont Officials
The Winooski School Board issued a statement condemning the incident:
“Despite being a United States citizen, Superintendent Chavarria was separated from his husband and treated in a manner that is deeply disturbing and unacceptable,” the board wrote. “This is not normal. It is wrong. It is inhumane. It is unjust.”
On the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Becca Balint, Vermont’s first openly LGBTQIA+ member of Congress, also condemned Chavarria’s treatment.
“Wilmer Chavarria is a community leader… held and interrogated for hours… given no reason for his detainment,” she said. “So when we say this can happen to any of us, this is what we’re talking about.”
“When community leaders, school superintendents, are being detained because of the colour of their skin and the sound of their last name, we need to hold onto our collective outrage. This is not what Americans want.”
