Saturday, 11 March 2017

Muhammad Ali's Detained By Immigration Staff At US Airport For SECOND Time

Muhammad Ali Jr

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali 's son has been detained by immigration staff at a US airport for the second time in two weeks.

Muhammad Ali Jr was questioned at a Washington airport before being allowed to board a flight to Florida, his lawyer said.

The 44-year-old was held as he flew home following a meeting with politicians to discuss the earlier airport detention, which happened at the end of last month.

Ali his mother, Khalilah Camacho-Ali, were stopped as they arrived at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on February 7 from Jamaica.

Muhammad Ali Jr

Lawyer Chris Mancini said officials questioned Ali for nearly two hours, repeatedly asking him, "Where did you get your name from?" and "Are you Muslim?"

The officials continued questioning Ali after acknowledging that he was Muslim, Mancini told the Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky.

Ali and his mother travelled to Washington on Wednesday, without incident, to speak to members of a congressional subcommittee on border security about the incident.

But Mancini said that when Ali attempted to board a JetBlue Airways flight home to Florida the same day, he was detained for 20 minutes.

Ali was finally allowed to board after speaking to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials by telephone and showed his driving licence and passport, Mancini said.

Mancini said: "None of this was happening Wednesday. Going to Washington obviously opened up a can of worms at DHS."

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida Democratic Congresswoman who was on the same flight, tweeted a photo with Ali after he was allowed to board.

She wrote: "On way home on DOMESTIC FLIGHT Muhammad Ali Jr. detained AGAIN ... Religiously profiling son of 'The Greatest' will not make us safe."

The mother and son, both born in the United States, have said in interviews that they believe they have been stopped because they are Muslim with Arabic names.

Muhammad Ali Jr

Hitting out at President Trump's controversial Muslim travel ban after the earlier incident involving Ali, Mancini told the Miami New Times: "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."

Ali Jr was born in Philadelphia and holds a US passport. He has no criminal record.

US Customs and Border Protection said it "cannot discuss individual travellers; however, all international travellers arriving in the US are subject to CBP inspection".

Khalilah Camacho-Ali married the boxer, who was then named Cassius Clay, in 1967 aged just 17. They divorced ten years later.

She had travelled to Jamaica with her son to give a speech about black history.


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