The son and wife of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali were reportedly detained and questioned at Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport because of their religion.
Muhammad Ali Jr., along with his mother, Khalilah Camacho-Ali, appeared on “CNN Tonight” with Don Lemon about their experience. The two were reportedly returning to the US following a black history event held in Jamaica. According to Ali Jr., they were retrieving their bags at the baggage claim area when an airport official pulled them to the side.
"He asked me, “What is your name?”,Which I didn't think nothing of that. "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?"
Camacho-Ali corroborated her son’s story, and told Lemon that they were questioned later in separate rooms, and she had to pull out a picture of her and her late husband.
KTLA.com reported that the family attorney, Chris Mancini, has since claimed that the incident stemmed from Donald Trump’s presidential order, which was a temporary travel ban on foreign nationals entering from any of the seven Muslim-concentrated countries, of which Jamaica is not included. Both Ali Jr. and Camacho-Ali are longtime US citizens.
Ali Jr. maintained that the treatment is the kind of wrong his father has fought against. New York Post said Ali is a known civil rights champion, and was famously stripped down of his heavyweight crown for refusing to enter the US military as a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War. Ali has since died in June last year due to Parkinson’s disease.
An ICE official has since denied they held the boxing champion’s family due to their religion, but declined to provide any details. However, Ali Jr. refuted the statement, and said, "They didn't ask me nothing about my passport. They asked me, what religion was I? That's nothing to do with the passport."
