A Canadian family living in Massachusetts has been left stranded for weeks after being banned from returning to the United States after a short ski trip to Quebec.Michael Freese, his wife, Cynthia, and their three young children traveled to Canada in March, anticipating a routine return home to Martha’s Vineyard.
Instead, they remained stuck in Ottawa, staying at a rental property in Kanata after US border officials refused to let them back into the country.Freese told the Daily Mail that he was turned away twice by US Border Patrol officers while trying to renew his TN visa, a permit that allows some Canadian and Mexican professionals to work in the United States under the US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement.The visa is typically issued for up to three years and can be renewed, but applicants must leave the United States and reapply at the border before it expires.
Approval depends on the discretion of the employee reviewing the case.Freeze works as a management consultant for a company that builds luxury homes. He said officials questioned whether his job still met the eligibility criteria.“In the past, they were more lenient with what they did,” Freeze said [work] Eligible categories. “I just think they’re becoming less lenient.”He first attempted to re-enter the United States at a border crossing in Quebec, but was turned away after being told his role was ineligible under the TN visa category.
He tried again the next day at a checkpoint in Ontario with updated documents, but was denied entry again.“Three years ago, when I got the visa, I think they said, ‘This is a guy who is doing honest work and trying to grow the economy,’” Freese said. “That’s changed now, and while that’s frustrating to me…I don’t think CBP did anything wrong. They’re just trying to do their job,” he added.Freese believes the decision may also be related to additional responsibilities in his role beyond strict management consulting.
He said an officer mentioned that the list of eligible occupations may have been updated recently.The family made the trip to Canada in part because Freeze needed to take their passports with him for the renewal process. They combined this requirement with a short vacation.Freeze has lived in the United States for seven years. After graduating from Brigham Young University in Idaho, he initially moved on a temporary visa before obtaining a three-year TN visa, which he expected to renew without difficulty.Now that he is separated from his home and job in Edgartown, he is exploring legal options to return. At the same time, applications have begun for new roles that more clearly fit the TN visa guidelines.More than 15,000 TN visas were issued in 2024 to professionals from Canada and Mexico, according to US State Department data.
