Orsdxy

I have a French and Canadian citizenship. Back in 2012, after a J-1 Internship Visa in NYC (under my French citizenship), I left the USA and went to Montreal before the end of my J-1. I then tried to get back in the US by bus purely for tourism purposes, and to my surprise the border agent denied my entry. His reason : I hadn't gone back to my residency country (which was France). And so they assumed that I was trying to settle as an illegal alien in the US territory (I wasn't of course, and my plane back to France was leaving from NYC a month later, but I didn't have it on me since I had no idea I was even doing anything suspicious.)

Finally, I stayed a month in Montreal, and went back to the US border (by bus) with my plane ticket leaving for NYC, and proof I had an appartement waiting for me in France (rent, gas bills, etc..). I pleaded them to let me get my plane, and they let me in, under the mandatory condition that I take my plane back to France (which I of course did).

Since then, I've been living and working in France. I have been back to the USA twice : once with another J-1 Visa for another internship, and a couple years later as a tourist.

The thing is : every time I've been back, despite having a J-1 Visa or ESTA from the embassy, I've been put in the "back room" at the border, where a border agents asks you a lot of questions for quite a while. It's quite nerve wrecking, as every single time, I'm not sure to actually get in the USA.
This is even more problematic nowadays, as my current job in France will soon have me travelling to the US for business reasons. And missing a business deal because of an honest mistake I did in my early 20's would be quite a problem.

My question is this :
will this border denial in 2012 be permanent in my travel history/record ? Is it possible to clean out this record ?
Is there a chance that it gets clean after a certain number of years ?
Or will I always be put in the "back room" for questioning for the rest of my life every time I try to get in the USA ?

Thanks !

PS : I have NO criminal record.

You can use the DHS Traveler Redress Inquiry Program to help clear up issues like being delayed at the border every time.

After you file your application, you will have 30 days to submit any supporting documents you may have. If you need more time than that to gather documents, you should get them first before you file a TRIP application.

As part of the process, you'll be assigned a Redress Control Number. You should give this number to the airline whenever you book airline tickets to or from the USA.