The son of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali was detained by immigration officials earlier this month at a Florida airport and was repeatedly asked about his religion for hours. The 44-years-old Muhammad Ali’s son and his mother, Khalilah Camacho-Ali, the first wife of Ali, were arriving at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on February 7.
Soon, they were taken aside while going through customs due to their Arabic-sounding names.
Camacho-Ali was released after she showed a picture of herself with ex-husband. However, her son was not as fortunate as he was badgered for two straight hours, and was frequently asked “Where did you get your name from?” and “Are you Muslim?”
When he accepted that he is a Muslim, the officers kept asking him about his religion and where he was born.
Ali’s family friend and lawyer Chris Mancini said the family are contemplating filing a federal lawsuit and are now trying to discover how many other people have been subjected to the similar treatment as Ali’s son. “Imagine walking into an airport and being asked about your religion. This is classic customs profiling,” he said.
Mancini also stressed that the line of questioning was evidently designed to form answers that confirm what officials want to hear. Neither Camacho-Ali nor her son has ever been subject to detainment regardless of huge international travel experience.
“To the Ali family, it’s crystal clear that this is directly linked to Trump’s efforts to ban Muslims from the United States,” said Mancini, referring to Trump’s executive order signed on Jan 27. The order bans for citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries.
