Jonathan says the official suggested he was carrying human remains and sent for Centers for Disease Control agents to assess the empty ashes urn. He says when he explained he had been living in the US for more than five years, he was asked: “Oh you live here, do you?”Saying you live somewhere is not communicating that you intend to overstay your visa. Similarly, saying you are in the US for "work" often means you are there for a conference or for meetings - all fine with a tourist visa! - but the border guy might decide you should have an actual work visa.
Jonathan says: “Then he told me I didn’t have the right visa – apparently saying I lived there showed that I had intent to stay and not leave.”
He says his visa was still valid for more than 12 months and he had left and re-entered the US without any problems about 20 times holding the same class of visa.
At some point other countries will engage in retaliatory measures towards American visitors/workers, which is usually how they respond to the US being jerks about such things.