Son of Muhammad Ali – one of the most celebrated boxers in history – was detained at Fort Lauderdale International Airport in Florida for hours earlier in the month, reports Miami New Times.
Muhammad Ali Jr was travelling with his mother, Khalilah Camacho-Ali when immigration officers detained him at the airport and questioned him for close to two hours. The two were on their way back from Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Khalilah, showed the police officers a picture of herself with her ex-husband, who died last year, and was allowed to go. However, Ali Jr. had no such photo and as a result was repeatedly questioned about his Arabic sounding name.
Things became worse when Ali Jr informed the officials that he is a practicing Muslim. The officers allegedly started to question him about his religion and where he was born. Aged 44, Muhammad Ali Jr was born in Philadelphia in 1972. He carries a United States passport and has no criminal record against him.
This is an outrage... I don’t know what is going on with Mr Trump’s claim that his ban is not religion-based. We do not discriminate in this country based on religion.Chris Mancini, a former federal prosecutor and friend of the family
Mancini, claims that this is a violation of the courts order, which overturned President Donald Trump’s ban on immigration and hinted that it also shows the discriminatory attitude of the establishment under the Trump government.
I believe there is profiling going on. Customs do not leave these things to the training and skill of the individual officer because it varies from officer to officer.
On being contacted, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) declined to comment on Ali Jr's case. Responding to The New Times it said:
Due to the restrictions of the Privacy Act, US Customs and Border Protection cannot discuss individual travellers; however, all international travellers arriving in the US are subject to CBP inspection.
(Source: Miami New Times)
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