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U.S. invites Czech musician to play — then ICE traumatizes him at airport and sends him home [1]
['Carla Sinclair']
Date: 2025-07-07
A Czech musician and Kent State graduate was invited back to the U.S. to play in a concert series this summer, only to be detained and traumatized by ICE agents upon arriving at the Detroit airport last week.
"On July 1, as I arrived in the United States, I was detained by immigration officers at the Detroit airport," the 35-year-old clarinet player, Jaroslav Skuta, wrote in an email, via The Columbus Dispatch, to explain his disappearance from his scheduled shows, including one at the Kent United Methodist Church, scheduled for the end of the month. "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," Skuta 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."
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection tried to defend the outrageous treatment by ICE towards an invited guest, explaining that Skuta came in on a tourist visa rather than an employment-based visa, as if they had no choice but to humiliate and send him back home rather than allowing him to fill out another form at the airport. Looks like we can now add musicians who are asked to play at summer church concerts to the list of so-called "criminals" that the Trump regime is rounding up.
From The Columbus Dispatch: Skuta landed in Detroit with the aim of going to Nebraska, where he was scheduled to perform first, [Ohio friend, Betty Hejma-] Sweet said. Skuta was then supposed to perform in concerts as part of Trio Mente in Cincinnati, Toledo, Cleveland, Dayton and Youngstown as well as Kent. Their performances were going to highlight Czech and Slavic composers. "They took his laptop and all his personal belongings, and accused him of lying," Sweet said. "It was very traumatic for him. He said he couldn't talk about it until he settled down a bit. I have an idea they bullied him. I'm embarrassed. I don't know what this country has come to. I am ashamed of our system and our government. They are dehumanizing people." … "I am truly devastated," Skuta said. "This experience has left me shaken to the core emotionally, mentally, and physically. It is difficult to describe the fear and helplessness I felt in that moment, and the profound sense of injustice that still lingers. I had come to the U.S. with genuine intentions: to bring Czech music to Czech-American and other small communities, to share something beautiful and meaningful through chamber music. Instead, I was met with disbelief and mistrust, and our dream of connecting with these communities was taken away in an instant."
Previously: ICE ambushes immigrant father in Burbank
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