The son of Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Ali Jr., has been detained at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida today.
Ali Jr.’s lawyer claims that airport officials have questioned the Ali descendant about his religion, after detaining him for nearly two hours.
In an interview with NBC News, friend of the Ali family Chris Mancini gave his opinion of the event.
NBC states that Mancini is a former federal prosecutor.
“It is a very interesting twist in history. His father fought for his religious rights, and now that [Donald] Trump is president, he has to fight.” Mancini told NBC.
The former prosecutor followed up his claims.
“This whole thing was triggered by his beliefs, the CBP is profiling. He was only released about two hours later. This is a U.S. citizen, born in Philadelphia. They have no right to inquire into his religion. This is outrageous; what’s going on in this country?”
“I don’t know what is going on with Mr. Trump’s claim that his ban is not religion-based. We do not discriminate in this country based on religion.” Mancini said.
A Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, spokesman has not provided much on the situation.
“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 spokesman told CBS.
Muhammed Ali, as well as his son, is Muslim. Following President Trump’s recent travel ban, many have become concerned over incidents such as this. Religious freedom and the freedom to travel are ever growing hot topics in the current political climate.
