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Cake day: June 22nd, 2023

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  • Because Lara not only works at a school in Switzerland, but also gives online language courses and counts Americans among her customers, the border officials were convinced that she wanted to work during her stay in the U.S.

    The fact that Lara was carrying souvenirs, such as German books and Swiss chocolate, had her laptop and had arranged to meet some of her online students for coffee in New York reinforced the border officials’ suspicions. When Lara insisted that she did not want to work during her vacation, the officials always responded with the same statement: «You’re lying.»

    «Then they threatened me: Either I officially say in the interrogation that I came to New York to work, or they will send me to prison,» Lara says, adding that the situation intimidated her. «But I still said: That’s not right. If you treat me like this, I will need a lawyer, and I must be given the opportunity to contact the Swiss Embassy. Their response was: You have no right to be here. You are not an American citizen.»

    If you have conflicting sources please cite them