New York [U.S.]: The son of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali has revealed that said he was detained by immigration officials at the Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, solely due to his religion- Muslim.
Muhammad Ali Jr., along with his mother, Khalilah Camacho-Ali were returning to Florida from Jamaica after speaking at a black history event, when they were pulled aside as they were retrieving their bags at baggage claim.
“He asked me, ‘what is your name? Which I didn’t think nothing of that,” the American citizen, added that the official asked for the origins of his name.
“He said, ‘OK, now, what is your religion? And I said, ‘Muslim, I’m a Muslim.’ And I thought to myself, that’s kind of odd. He asked about my religion, and I’m traveling back into the country from where I came from?,” he said.
Ali Jr. further stated that the immigration official questioned him in separate room from his mother, Camacho-Ali for nearly two hours.
“They asked me, where was I born and what my religion was, where did I get the name from,” Camacho-Ali said.
Chris Mancini, the attorney for the family claimed the incident had occurred following President Donald Trump’s executive order calling for a temporary travel ban on foreign nationals entering the country from seven Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East and Africa. (ANI)