The French authorities said the academic had been traveling to a conference near Houston when border officials blocked his entry because of conversations found on his phone.

A French scientist has been denied entry into the United States, apparently because the scientist had expressed a personal opinion on the Trump administration's research policy, the French Education Ministry said on Thursday.

The US administration stated that the scientist had sensitive data on his computer and phone, contradicting the version of events put forward by the French research minister, who had publicized the incident.