A new report has been revealed of how the son of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali who died last year was detained for hours by immigration officials earlier this month at a Florida airport. This was made known by a family friend.

According to the family friend and lawyer Chris Mancini. Muhammad Ali Jr., 44, and his mother, Khalilah Camacho-Ali, had arrived at the 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 check because of their Arabic-sounding.

The Immigration officials were said to have let her go after she had showed them a photo of herself with her ex-husband, but her son and wasn’t as lucky as she was as he hadn’t any photo to prove his relationship with the former boxing champion.

The officials according to Mancini said were said to have held him while questioning Ali Jr. for almost two hours, repeatedly asking him, “Where did you get your name from?” and “Are you Muslim?”

When Ali Jr. responded that yes, he is a Muslim, the officers kept questioning him about his religion and where he was born.

A spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection had written when asked for comments on the report, “Due to the restrictions of the Privacy Act, U.S. Customs and Border Protection cannot discuss individual travelers; however, all international travelers arriving in the U.S. are subject to CBP inspection.”

“To the Ali family, it’s crystal clear that this is directly linked to Mr. Trump’s efforts to ban Muslims from the United States,” Mancini said, referring to

President Trump’s executive order signed Jan. 27 that instituted a ban for citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries.

Meanwhile the officials at the Fort Lauderdale airport as at friday were yet to respond to requests for comment.

Mancini also said he and the Ali family were still contemplating filing a federal lawsuit and are currently trying to find out how many other people have been subjected to the same treatment as Ali Jr.

“Imagine walking into an airport and being asked about your religion,” he said. “This is classic customs profiling.” He said.


SOURCE: http://www.naijasilvergold.com/blog/2017/02/25/alis-son-detained-immigration-airport/