A Czech clarinetist with multiple concerts scheduled in the United States, including in Cincinnati, was detained in Detroit when he arrived in the country on July 1 and forced to return to Prague.
Jaroslav Skuta said in an email to concert organizers that the ensemble he performs with has been forced to cancel a July 15 concert in Cincinnati and a summer 2025 chamber concert series. Skuta, along with pianist Meng Yuan and violinist Dan Qiao, make up Trio Mente.
Rick Sowash, a Cincinnati composer and author, invited Skuta and the other members of Trio Mente to perform at his 75th birthday celebration on July 15. He’d invited about 500 guests but canceled the event after Skuta sent him an email about his troubles with customs officials in Detroit.
“It was like a punch in the stomach,” Sowash said. “I’ve never had anything like this in my career.”
The incident involving Skuta is one of several in recent months involving foreign tourists and cultural figures since President Donald Trump returned to office after campaigning on a pledge to crack down on immigration. Some have complained of unwarranted detentions, questioning and searches.
Skuta, who attended Kent State University, also was expected to perform this summer at the United Methodist Church of Kent. Frank Wiley, the director of music at the church and emeritus faculty member of the Hugh A. Glauser School of Music at Kent State University, shared Skuta’s email.
“On July 1, as I arrived in the United States, I was detained by immigration officers at the Detroit airport,” said Skuta, 35. “What followed was one of the most humiliating and traumatizing experiences of my life. I was held in custody for hours, with my phone and all personal devices taken away.
“I was subjected to aggressive, demeaning interrogation and threats of jail time,” Skuta said. “Despite having all the necessary documentation and clear evidence of the cultural and non-commercial nature of our project, I was treated with suspicion and hostility from the very beginning. After 5 hours of interrogation, I was denied entry and forcibly sent back home to Prague.”
U.S. Customs spokesman says musician lacked proper visa
Customs officials, however, said Skuka did not have the documents he needed to enter the country. John B. Mennell, public affairs specialist for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, stated in a written response to questions about the incident that Skuta didn’t have the correct visa to enter the country.
“On July 1, Jaroslav Skuta arrived at Detroit Metro Airport claiming to be entering the U.S. for tourism,” Mennell stated July 6. “During inspection, it was determined he had misrepresented the purpose of his travel and was actually scheduled to perform at multiple events as a professional musician. Performing in the United States constitutes work and requires the appropriate employment-based visa. Skuta did not have the required visa, was refused entry, and returned on the next available [flight].”
Wiley said that for several of the local concerts, Skuta was going to perform for free.
“The ones he was doing locally, he was not charging anything,” Wiley said. “These were all free for the venues. He had contacted me and was checking into several other venues, and he wasn’t going to charge.”
It may not matter whether Skuta would have been paid for his performances in the United States. Tourist visas, for example, typically don’t allow visitors to do work of any kind, paid or unpaid, while in the country.
Skuta did not immediately respond to an email asking for clarification on his visa status. But in his email to Sowash, he said he felt “devastated and heartbroken” by his detention in Detroit.
Sowash, whose work has been performed around the world, said he was devastated, too. Regardless of Skuta’s visa status, he said, customs officials were unnecessarily aggressive and demeaning. “How do you treat someone like that?” Sowash said.
Betty Hejma-Sweet of Kent, who said she has known Skuta for several years, said that he had called her with the news while he was awaiting his flight back to the Czech Republic. Skuta, she said, had attended Kent State under a scholarship set up in memory of her late husband, George Hejma.
“He had to go home when they had to close the Czech border in 2020, so he couldn’t finish,” Sweet said. However, she added that since then he has come to the country once a year to perform, and always stopped by to visit her.
“I’ve been pretty weepy the past three, four days,” she said.
Skuta landed in Detroit with the aim of going to Nebraska, where he was scheduled to perform first, Sweet said.
Skuta was then supposed to perform in concerts as part of Trio Mente in Cincinnati, Toledo, Cleveland, Dayton and Youngstown as well as Kent. Their performances were going to highlight Czech and Slavic composers.
“They took his laptop and all his personal belongings, and accused him of lying,” Sweet said. “It was very traumatic for him. He said he couldn’t talk about it until he settled down a bit. I have an idea they bullied him. I’m embarrassed. I don’t know what this country has come to. I am ashamed of our system and our government. They are dehumanizing people.”
Skuta stated in his email to Wiley that he hoped to return to the U.S. “When the climate becomes more welcoming to international artists and cultural exchange, I will be able to return and rebuild what was lost.”
“I am truly devastated,” Skuta said. “This experience has left me shaken to the core emotionally, mentally, and physically. It is difficult to describe the fear and helplessness I felt in that moment, and the profound sense of injustice that still lingers. I had come to the U.S. with genuine intentions: to bring Czech music to Czech-American and other small communities, to share something beautiful and meaningful through chamber music. Instead, I was met with disbelief and mistrust, and our dream of connecting with these communities was taken away in an instant.”
The Enquirer staff contributed to this story.
Reporter April Helms can be reached at ahelms@thebeaconjournal.com
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: ‘Humiliating and traumatizing’: Czech musician set to perform in Cincinnati sent home
Reporting by April Helms, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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