The son of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali was detained for hours by immigration officials at a Florida airport over his Arabic-sounding name, a family friend told the Courier-Journal.
According to the report, Muhammad Ali Jr., 44, and his mother Khalilah Camacho-Ali, the second wife of Muhammad Ali, were arriving at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Feb. 7 after returning from speaking at a Black History Month event in Montego Bay, Jamaica. They were pulled aside while going through customs because of their Arabic-sounding names, according to family friend and lawyer Chris Mancini.
Immigration officials let Camacho-Ali go after she showed them a photo of herself with her ex-husband, but her son did not have such a photo and wasn’t as lucky. Mancini said officials held and questioned Ali Jr. for nearly two hours, repeatedly asking him, “Where did you get your name from?” and “Are you Muslim?”
When he eventually responded that he was a Muslim, the officers kept questioning him about his religion and where he was born.
Ali Jr. was born in Philadelphia in 1972 and holds a US passport.
“This may be connected to Mr. Trump’s efforts to ban Muslims from the United States,” Mancini said.
END
Be the first to comment