Wabanaki elder and fiancee in Canada allege harassment by U.S. border officials

By Kathleen Phalen Tomaselli, The County Staff

A well-known, Bangor-born Wabanaki elder whose fiancee lives in Canada is raising the alarm about what they say has been harsh and disrespectful treatment by U.S. immigration officials when they have recently crossed the international border to see each other.

David Slagger, 63, a member of the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians and Woodstock First Nation in New Brunswick, has accused officials at the Houlton and Calais border crossings of, among other things, handcuffing his fiancee while she was crossing on Monday, mistreating his feathers and confiscating a ceremonial drum that he made and has used for 25 years.

Slagger now says he plans to sell his Monson home and permanently leave the U.S. over the treatment by border officials. He has shared his concerns with top officials including U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew and New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt. 

“Yesterday my fiancee, Angela Daigle from Saint John, who has a valid passport, was handcuffed and detained for having too many clothes for a two week stay at our house in Monson, Maine while I recuperate from back surgery,” he wrote in a letter this week to Holt. 

The complaints from Slagger come amid growing concern among Canadians about the risks of crossing the U.S. border under President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration. Fears of arrest and detainment, along with larger frustrations over Trump’s rhetoric on the northern neighbor, have caused many Canadians to stay home. Earlier this summer British-Canadian comedian James Mullinger, canceled his Maine tour dates in Houlton and Eastport due to concerns about border tensions. 

In an interview, Slagger argued his and Daigle’s recent experiences crossing the border have been traumatizing, and that he does not know any First Nation citizens in Woodstock, New Brunswick, who will now attempt to enter the U.S.

He argued that the unusual scrutiny violates their rights under the Jay Treaty, which requires that those born in Canada with at least 50 percent American Indian blood not be denied admission to the U.S. They are entitled to freely enter for employment, study, retirement, investing and immigration, and must provide evidence of their background — such as a photo tribal identification card — at the port of entry.

“They have continuously violated our Jay Treaty rights by harassing us, disrespecting our sacred feathers and medicines, confiscated our drums and traumatized many New Brunswick First Nations citizens,” Slagger said. 

Ryan Brissette, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson, said Wednesday that he was looking into the matter. 

Slagger is a disabled veteran who served in the Naval Construction Force, commonly referred to as the U.S. Seabees. He also was the first Maliseet tribal representative in Maine’s Legislature and has retired from working as a teacher in the University of Maine System.

Slagger said someone from Collins’ office told him they had contacted the border crossing supervisors and that he would be safe crossing. A Collins spokesperson, Blake Kernen, said due to privacy concerns they will not comment on whether an individual has asked for assistance. 

Representatives for Holt and Kinew did not immediately respond to requests for comment, although Holt staffers said they were looking into Slagger’s situation. 

“This is not the country I grew up in,” Slagger said. “It reminds me of Nazi Germany.”

In an interview on Wednesday afternoon, his fiancee, Daigle, said she still feels traumatized and overwhelmed after what she said was several hours of detention while she was crossing the border earlier this week. 

She has crossed to visit Slagger many times without incident, but when she first attempted to cross into the U.S. on Sunday at the Calais station, the border agents reportedly did not believe that she was visiting because her vehicle was filled with clothes, she said. 

“I explained that I was visiting my fiancee for two weeks,” she said. “A female agent thought I was playing stupid and started yelling at me.”

While detained in Calais, Daigle was finger printed and the female agent made her sign a document that she did not see or get a copy of, she said. 

The next day, she again tried to cross the border at Houlton because Slagger was having back surgery and she was going to care for him. At the Houlton crossing, she was handcuffed to a bench for several hours, she said. 

“I cried the whole time. I had never been through anything like this before and I was so scared,” she said. “I will never go near the border again.” 

So, Slagger has arranged to rent a cottage for a month or so at the Howard Johnson’s in Woodstock and have his neighbors sell his belongings and home. And Daigle said they can live in New Brunswick and heal together. 

“If I can’t live in my house and not be afraid, I don’t want to live here,” he said. “When I leave I’ll never come back to the U.S. I don’t want to live in fear and trauma.”