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Legendary boxer Muhammad Ali's son detained at Florida airport

By Web Desk
February 25, 2017

FLORIDA: Legendary boxer Muhammad Ali's son was detained at a Florida airport on Feb. 7 with his mother for their 'Arabic-sounding names'.

Muhammad Ali Jr., 44, and his mother Khalilah Camacho-Ali, were detained by immigration officials at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on February 7 after they had arrived from Jamaica where they had spoken at the occasion of the Black History Month.

Chris Mancini, their family friend and lawyers, stated that the two were detained by customs owing to their 'Arabic-sounding names'. As per details, Camacho-Ali, the late boxer's second wife, showed officials at the airport a photograph of her with Muhammad Ali. She was released by customs officials but her son, Muhammad Ali Jr. did not have such pictorial evidence and he was detained by the officials for almost two hours.

"Where did you get your name from?" and "Are you Muslim?" were some of the questions that were asked from Muhammad Ali Jr. When the 44-year-old did reply that he was a Muslim and Islam was his religion, officials grilled him about where he was born and about his religion.

A spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection wrote, "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."

The family lawyer stated that the family of Muhammad Ali had no doubt that this was as a result of Donald Trump's executive orders which banned immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

"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.