Muhammad Ali Jr. questioned by immigration officials at Florida airport
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Khalilah Camacho-Ali was Muhammad Ali's first wife.
Clarification: A statement from longtime Muhammad Ali family spokesperson Bob Gunnell has been added to clarify who Chris Mancini represents.
The son of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali was detained for hours by immigration officials at a Florida airport, a family friend told the Courier-Journal.
Muhammad Ali Jr., 44, and his mother Khalilah Camacho-Ali, the second wife of Muhammad Ali, were arriving at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Feb. 7 after returning from speaking at a Black History Month event in Montego Bay, Jamaica. They were pulled aside while going through customs because of their Arabic-sounding names, according to family friend and lawyer Chris Mancini.
Immigration officials let Camacho-Ali go after she showed them a photo of herself with her ex-husband, but her son did not have such a photo. Mancini said officials held and questioned Ali Jr. for nearly two hours, repeatedly asking him, "Where did you get your name from?" and "Are you Muslim?"
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When Ali Jr. responded that yes, he is a Muslim, the officers kept questioning him about his religion and where he was born. Ali Jr. was born in Philadelphia in 1972 and holds a U.S. passport.
Reached for comment via email Friday, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection said, "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 line of questioning is indicative of profiling and designed to produce answers that corroborate what officials want to hear, Mancini said. Neither Camacho-Ali nor Ali Jr. have ever been subjected to detainment before, despite extensive global travel experience, he said.
"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, referring to President Donald Trump's executive order signed Jan. 27 that barred people from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S. for 90 days. The order also halted the refugee program for 120 days and prohibited Syrian refugees from the U.S. indefinitely.
A U.S. appeals court has since blocked enforcement of the travel order, upholding an earlier decision by a federal judge in Seattle.
Officials at the Fort Lauderdale airport did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.
Camacho-Ali and Ali Jr. live in Deerfield Beach, Florida, a 20-minute drive from the airport. While Ali Jr. was detained, Camacho-Ali ran around the airport asking, "Where's my son?" and begging for help, Mancini said. Because incidents involving customs officials are considered to be on federal soil, local police had no jurisdiction to help her. Ali Jr. was released two hours later, and the family contacted Mancini the following day.
Mancini said he and Ali Jr.'s family are contemplating filing a federal lawsuit, although longtime Muhammad Ali family spokesperson Bob Gunnell said in an email Saturday evening that Mancini only represents Muhammad Ali Jr. and Khalilah Camacho-Ali.
" Mr Mancini is representing Muhammad Ali Jr.," Gunnell's statement said. "He does not represent the Muhammad Ali family. The Muhammad Ali family is not considering filing a federal lawsuit in this matter."
Mancini said he hopes to find out how many other people have been subjected to the same treatment as Ali Jr.
"Imagine walking into an airport and being asked about your religion," he said. "This is classic customs profiling."
Reporter Danielle Lerner can be reached at dlerner@courier-journal.com or 502-582-4042.
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