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After next being directed inside the U.S. Customs secondary inspection office, Potter alleges for over an hour he was repeatedly called back and forth to the front desk by officers, asked one question at a time, then told to sit back down.

“They were rude and belittling to me,” he said. “They would call me up and then send me back to my seat.”

He was asked why his husband was not with him. He had his phone and wallet searched and was asked about their contents. They asked about his hometown of Olds, Alta., and why he relocated.

Potter alleges he was then taken into a small cell where he sat for about 15 minutes.

Officers entered and next told him to remove his jacket, shoes and belt and to put his hands on the wall. Officers frisked him on “every part of his body,” he said.

“I was given no reason at all,” Potter said. “I asked and they would not answer.”

Soon after, he was offered a chance to speak with a supervisor. But after being told it would take an hour or two, he refused.

Potter alleges he was taken back to his seat in the waiting area, questioned some more, before being told at around 2:30 p.m. by customs officers they were denying his entry into the U.S.

He was escorted back to his Jeep where he discovered his small suitcase and all his personal belongings had been dumped and strewn throughout the vehicle.

Potter was directed back through the tunnel to Windsor.

“I felt like I was profiled and didn’t get in because I was gay,” he said, adding that he’d done the exact same thing on previous trips across the border — made purchases and declared them. “This time I added that I had a husband.