Chinese Student Grilled for Hours in US, Sent Back Despite Policy Shifts

The 22-year-old philosophy student from China did not expect any problems after his 29-hour flight arrived at a Texas airport this month as he was on his way to study at the University of Houston.

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His paperwork was in order. He was going to study humanities—not a tech field that might raise suspicions. He had a full scholarship from a US school and had previously spent a semester at Cornell University for an exchange program with no issues.

But the student, who asked to be identified only by his family name, Gu, because of the political sensitivities of the matter, was stopped, interrogated and 36 hours later, put on a plane back to China.

He was also banned from coming back for five years, abruptly halting his dream for an academic career in the United States.

"There is no opportunity for the life I had expected," Gu said.