Maine Physician Returns Home After Four-Month Border Ordeal

Dr. Behnoosh Dashti never imagined a routine trip to the border would keep her away from her patients for more than four months.

The family care physician at Northern Light A.R. Gould Hospital in Presque Isle was finally back at work this week, ending a protracted legal battle that began when U.S. Customs and Border Protection deemed her inadmissible upon her return from Canada in April.

"It was such a relief," Dashti said in her first interview since resuming work. "I couldn't wait to come back. I wanted to come back sooner, to go back to my normal life."

The dual citizen of Iran and Canada had been living in Maine since late 2022, when she relocated from Toronto alongside her husband after he accepted a position at the same Aroostook County hospital. Dashti arrived on an H-1B work visa and quickly became the only primary care provider at the women's health clinic, serving approximately 800 patients in a medically underserved region.

The family settled into life in northern Maine with appreciation for what Dashti described as a stark contrast to her previous urban surroundings.

"We found it very peaceful," she said. "It was totally opposite to where I was before. No traffic, lots of farms, and with beautiful scenery, lakes."

Her home sits roughly 30 minutes from the nearest border crossing, in a community where residents routinely cross back and forth. Dashti had made similar trips numerous times without incident.

On April 8, she approached the border around 2 p.m. with a specific purpose: obtaining an entry stamp from U.S. officials. The stamp, she believed, would help resolve an issue with renewing her Maine driver's license. The Bureau of Motor Vehicles had informed her they couldn't locate her renewed visa in their system, and she hoped the border documentation would trigger the necessary update.

What followed was anything but routine.

Border Patrol agents subjected Dashti to extended interviews, confiscated her phone for security review, and prevented her from contacting her family or employer. She learned her on-call shift would be missed, and her husband made two separate drives to the border seeking information—only to be turned away each time.

"It took awhile for me to digest the information, that what 'inadmissible' means is that I cannot go back," Dashti recalled.

She subsequently filed a federal lawsuit against CBP officials, arguing she had been wrongfully denied reentry. The case argued before U.S. District Court centered on whether the court had jurisdiction, with government attorneys contending Dashti had not exhausted administrative remedies. Dashti dismissed the lawsuit Monday after CBP agreed to permit her return.

Throughout her extended absence, Dashti moved between hotels and short-term rentals near the border, frequently changing locations every night or two in hopes that resolution was imminent. The days stretched long and uncertain.

"I lived in Iran during my childhood youth and it was under a dictatorial regime," she said. "I witnessed wars, and when I immigrated to Canada, and I had to start over, which means I have faced difficulty and hardship in my life. It's not that I'm unfamiliar. But this was the hardest for me. I didn't know what's going on, and it was unpredictable and uncertain. And those elements add to the difficulty of the situation."

Her husband and daughter remained in Presque Isle, unable to join her near the border over fears they too might be blocked from returning home.

The separation took a professional toll as well. Northern Light A.R. Gould Hospital preserved her position, but Dashti received no income during her exile. Insurance regulations prevented her from conducting any medical work from Canada, leaving her patients without their regular provider.

"That can trigger someone, when they feel that their provider has vanished all of a sudden," Dashti said, particularly concerned about her behavioral health patients who depend on consistent, predictable care.

She occupied her days with writing, exercise, mindfulness practice, and—for the first time—running. Community members followed news of her situation and reached out with support, which Dashti said sustained her during the ordeal.

Now back behind her exam room door, Dashti reflected on what home means after her extended absence.

"It's a very nice feeling to be back home," she said. "And the home, with all the love and support that I received, feels more like a home to me now that I've returned, compared to when I left."