Muhammad Ali Jr Says He Was 'Harassed Again' by Airport Security

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Muhammad Ali Jr. says he was “harassed” at the airport again, while trying to board a flight on Friday.

The incident comes just a day after Ali testified before a Congressional subcommittee about his experience of being detained and questioned at an airport last month. The legendary boxer’s son was attempting to board his return flight from Washington D.C. to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, when he says he was stopped by security.

“I got harassed again,” Ali told the Sun-Sentinel. “They had a ‘red flag’ on my flight. They said I wasn’t able to get on until I talked to homeland security.”

Also Read: Muhammad Ali's 75th Birthday: 13 Jaw-Dropping Moments From His Boxing Career (Photos)

“[The JetBlue ticket agent] put me on the phone with homeland security. They asked me questions,” he told the Florida paper, adding that one of the questions was where he was born. “Luckily I had a passport so they let me on the plane.”

“I don’t see why I have to do that just to get on the plane. And another thing, I’m not out of the country. I’m in the United States,” he said.

Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, a Florida congressman and former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, was on the same flight and shared the story on Twitter.

Also Read: Showtime Developing Miniseries About Muhammad Ali's Objection to Vietnam War

“On way home on DOMESTIC FLIGHT Muhammad Ali Jr. detained AGAIN by @DHSgov. Religiously profiling son of ‘The Greatest’ will not make us safe,” she wrote.

In February, Ali and his mother were questioned due to their “Arabic-sounding names” while boarding a return flight from Jamaica, according to the Courier-Journal.

“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,” Ali’s lawyer Chris Mancini told the paper. “Imagine walking into an airport and being asked about your religion. This is classic customs profiling.”

On way home on DOMESTIC FLIGHT Muhammad Ali Jr. detained AGAIN by @DHSgov. Religiously profiling son of 'The Greatest' will not make us safe pic.twitter.com/KO3IVnRFax

— D Wasserman Schultz (@DWStweets) March 10, 2017

9 People Stopped at Airports Under Trump's Travel Ban (Photos)

On Jan. 27, President Donald Trump signed an executive order restricting travel from seven Muslim-majority countries. The ban is now tied up in courts, but Trump has announced plans for a new ban.

The first travel ban affected about 90,000 people. Here's an introduction to eight of them.
Muhammad Ali Jr.

Legendary boxer Muhammad Ali's son and his mother were stopped by immigration officials at the Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

CNN
Khalilah Camacho-Ali was let go after showing officials a photo of her and her then-husband Muhammad Ali, but Muhammad Ali, Jr. was questioned for an hour and 45 minutes, according to the Los Angeles Times.
We can't say conclusively why the Alis were stopped, but the family's lawyer said that the officials kept asking Ali Jr. about his religion. (The elder Ali is pictured here with President George W. Bush, receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom.)
Hameed Khalid Darweesh

Hameed Khalid Darweesh worked for over 10 years as an interpreter for the U.S government in Iraq.

According the the New York Times, Darweesh was detained at JFK airport for about 19 hours before he was allowed to enter the U.S.

“What I do for this country? They put the cuffs on,” Darweesh told the Times.
A 5-year-old boy

A 5-year-old boy was detained for a few hours at Washington Dulles International Airport.

According to the Independent, the boy is a U.S. citizen who lives with his Iranian mother in Maryland and was traveling with another family member at the time.
“To assume that just because of someone’s age and gender that they don’t pose a threat would be misguided and wrong,” said White House press secretary Sean Spicer.
Areej Ali

The 33-year-old software developer, a green-card holder, was detained in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and again in Los Angeles. She said she was returning from her sister's wedding in Sudan.

Her family found a lawyer who noted that the ban did not apply to people with green cards, according to the Daily Bulletin.

Fusion
Mazdak Tootkaboni and Arghavan Louhghalam

This husband and wife are associate professors at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, and both are permanent residents of the United States, but are Iranian in nationality.

According to the Guardian, the two professors were coming back from a conference in France when they were stopped at Boston's Logan airport and questioned for four hours before being released.
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Sidd Bikkannavar

The U.S.-born Muslim scientist says he was detained under President Trump’s travel ban and forced by border agents to unlock his NASA-issued phone.

Bikkannavar is an employee at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and was coming back from a trip in Patagonia when he was detained. Patagonia is a region in Argentina and Chile -- neither of which are among the countries covered by the travel ban.
YouTube
Khanon Mahindokht Azad

According to the Guardian, Khanon Mahindokht Azad is a 78-year-old Iranian grandmother who visits the U.S. every now and then to see her kids -- who are U.S. citizens.

After 27 hours of being detained at LAX, she was finally allowed into the country.
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From a legendary boxer’s son to a 5-year-old boy to a woman visiting her grandkids

On Jan. 27, President Donald Trump signed an executive order restricting travel from seven Muslim-majority countries. The ban is now tied up in courts, but Trump has announced plans for a new ban.

The first travel ban affected about 90,000 people. Here's an introduction to eight of them.

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