On his way to Houston, Texas, on Sunday, March 9, to attend a scientific conference on spatial matters, a French researcher from the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) had no idea that he would soon find himself at the center of a diplomatic mess. He was detained by police at the airport for over a day before being sent back to France, leaving his work computer and cell phone in the United States.

Philippe Baptiste, French higher education and research minister, made the denial of entry public. In a statement to Agence France-Presse (AFP), he deplored the decision as having been "taken by the American authorities because this researcher's phone contained exchanges with colleagues and friends in which he expressed a personal opinion on the Trump administration's research policy."

The very next day, this version of events was disputed by the US Department of Homeland Security, which has denied any political reason for the incident. "The French researcher in question was in possession of confidential information on his electronic device from Los Alamos National Laboratory [in New Mexico] – in violation of a non-disclosure agreement – something he admitted to taking without permission and attempted to conceal. Any claim that his removal was based on political beliefs is blatantly false," said Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin, on X, on March 20.

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