A prominent school leader in Winooski and United States citizen is speaking out after he spent hours in Border Patrol custody after returning to the country from a visit to Nicaragua.

“You feel like you’ve been abducted by a gang of aggressive, violent people who are trying to manipulate you and who are lying to you, and while you are being abducted, you know that these people are capable of doing anything to you because they don’t care," said Wilmer Chavarria.

That's how the Winooski School District superintendent described what he called an "abusive" and "bizarre" interrogation he endured at the Houston Port of Entry at the George Bush Airport Monday night.

Chavarria, a naturalized U.S. citizen who is originally from Nicaragua, said he and his husband, Cyrus Dundgeon, were returning from a trip to visit his family. Those family members had been living with him in Vermont under temporary protected status, but out of fear of deportation, they recently returned to their home country of Nicaragua.

Despite both being U.S. citizens and having Global Entry, at customs, Chavarria said he was told to go to a different section than his husband, before being escorted to a Customs and Border Protection holding room without being given a reason.

“Every time we attempted to ask, we were met with aggressive nos and very intimidating and aggressive verbal abuse on their part whenever we wanted to ask for answers," Chavarria said.

Moments after being brought into CBP, Chavarria said he was met with an unidentified woman calling him into another room.

“I asked whether I was being detained, and she said 'You’re not being detained,'" Chavarria said. "I said, 'Then can I go?' And she said, 'No, you may not go.'"

Dundgeon, forced to wait on another level of the airport, said he was met with hostility while desperately searching for answers about his husband's status.

“I essentially waited for four and a half, five hours until Wilmer was released," Dundgeon said. "All that time, I have no idea what’s going on. Am I going to see him again? Is he gonna be taken somewhere?"

Meanwhile, during those hours, Chavarria said he was told he had no rights while being threatened and questioned by at least five interrogators.

"When four of them were in front of me, standing while they had me sitting down, they said that I do not have rights, that my constitutional rights don't matter at a port of entry and that I should stop talking about rights," Chavarria said.

When Chavarria asked to make a phone call, he was told "'No, we're not going to do that, give us a phone number,'" he said. "I said let me access my phone so I can give you a phone number, and they said 'No, just tell us, why won't you tell us?' But like, people don't just memorize their contact list."

During the interrogation, Chavarria said the unidentified individuals attempted to threaten and manipulate him into giving them access to his professional devices, containing information about students in the Winooski District.

“I was threatened with being referred to the FBI, the FBI was mentioned multiple times," he said. "They also threatened to stain my record so I would never get a job again. They also threatened with an extended detention if I didn’t give them the passwords to the student information or to my district files."

Yet, after five hours and never giving up his students' information, Chavarria said he was finally released, at which point he said a plainclothes officer "shook [his] hand and said that he admired [Chavarria's] resilience and the fact that [he] was protecting student information."

Chavarria said he felt dehumanized by the comment.

Despite making it back to his husband, Chavarria said he's come out the other side a different person than the one who first landed in Houston.

“I just don’t feel safe here," he said. "I feel like I’m being told over and over that this is not my country, that it doesn’t matter that I’m a U.S. citizen, I do not belong here.”

Meanwhile, his husband pointed out that their story is just one of many, among hundreds of others that go unheard.

"Who’s behind those doors right now being treated the exact same way, with grown people towering over someone, standing over someone and interrogating them?” said Dundgeon.

At this point, Chavarria said he has still not been given any reason for the interrogation but learned his Global Entry has been revoked.

He said he is working with Vermont's federal delegation to get answers, but shared concerns about pressing too hard out of fear of retaliation.

"I don't want to poke the bear; I do not trust the people in charge right now," he said. "I don't want to make them any angrier at me, because I fear for the safety of my family, I fear for the safety of everybody around me."

NBC5 has reached out to Customs and Border Protection for a response to this and has been told CBP is working on a statement.

President Donald Trump announced new tariff rates for multiple countries this week, sharing the letters addressed to heads of state on Truth Social.

The changes include an increase in the cost of importing goods from Brazil, Canada, the European Union and Mexico.

For a comprehensive breakdown of the tariffs, refer to the list below.

Trump began sending out letters last week after again pushing back the tariff deadline to Aug. 1. The reason for the increase or decrease in tariffs is explained in the letters, which the president has posted on his account on Truth Social.

Some of the reasons provided by Trump include Mexico's failure to deal with the fentanyl crisis and Brazil's ongoing trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro over his alleged plot to overturn his election loss.

Politics or economics? Trump threatens tariffs on Brazil over former president’s trial

The president initially sought to have "90 deals in 90 days" since announcing the pause on tariffs on April 9. However, trade negotiations are proving to be longer and more complicated, with only trade deals from China, the United Kingdom and Vietnam having been secured.

President Donald Trump signed his One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law, sparking discussions on the future of the nation’s budget and the national debt.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office published an analysis that estimates the law could add $3 trillion to the country's debt over the next decade, or about $300 billion a year.

Currently, the national debt stands at around $36.6 trillion.

How did we get here and how does the national debt impact taxpayers?

What is the national debt?

Every year, the United States government spends money on programs and services like Social Security and health care, while receiving revenue through methods like federal income taxes.

When the nation spends more money than it brings in during a given year, that creates a deficit. To pay for this deficit, the federal government borrows money by issuing Treasury bonds, bills and notes.

The national debt is the total amount of money the government has borrowed since the nation's inception.

How did we get here?

The national debt stands at $36.6 trillion as of July 18, 2025, according to the U.S. Treasury.

The debt dates back to the nation's inception, helping fund the Revolutionary War to World War II.

The 2008 global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic were two major events that led to "big jumps" in the debt, according to Joseph Foudy, an economics professor at New York University Stern School of Business.

The nation's aging population is also putting a strain on programs like Social Security and health care.

Where is the money going?

A majority of government spending is going to Social Security, interest on the debt, health care, which includes Medicare and Medicaid, and national defense.

In 2024, the interest the government paid on its outstanding loans soared to $1.1 trillion.

"That's becoming a huge burden," Foudy said.

Is it possible to pay down the debt?

Aside from Social Security, health care, interest on the debt, and national defense, funding the rest of the federal government is only a fraction of spending, according to Foudy.

"If you closed every other branch of the federal government, research, Department of Education, Department of Energy funding, and everything else, it wouldn't close the deficit," Foudy said.

In theory, the government can balance its books by raising taxes or substantially cutting spending. Experts like Foudy suggest doing a bit of both.

Bringing in more revenue could look like letting tax cuts expire.

"It's just not simply sustainable to sort of fund our government with the level of taxes we have," Foudy said. "That's not on the average person, but particularly some of the tax cuts to the top earners."

Decreasing spending could mean cutting spending on major programs like Social Security.

"We're going to have to tweak that program that involves raising the retirement age, reducing some benefits, or maybe actually just increasing how much people pay and their employers pay in," Foudy said.

Get the Facts: How big is the U.S. national debt?

How does the national debt impact taxpayers?

If the debt continues to rise at a record rate, taxpayers will feel the impact, said Brett Loper, the vice president of policy at the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, a nonpartisan organization focused on addressing the nation's fiscal challenges.

Paying off the nation's interest on the debt would make it harder for the country to invest in programs such as retirement programs, health care programs, research, and education, according to Loper.

The rising debt would also pressure the Treasury Department to divert funding from investing in a new company, startup, or small business, to selling off U.S. Treasuries, Loper said.

Since lending is tied to the Treasury rate, interest rates on loans for businesses, new cars, mortgages, and education will also increase.

"That's where it will really begin to squeeze the economy," Loper said. "And families at the household level will be able to really feel it as well."