
Son of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali said he was detained
by immigration officials at Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International
Airport, Florida because he's a Muslim.
Muhammad
Ali Jr., along with his mother, Khalilah Camacho-Ali were returning to
Florida from Jamaica after speaking at a black history event. They were
retrieving their bags at baggage claim, when an official pulled them
aside.
In an interview with
CNN, the 44-year-old American citizen, who was born in Philadelphia
said, "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?"
Ali Jr. said
the immigration official questioned him in separate room from his
mother, Camacho-Ali for nearly two hours. "They asked me, where was I
born and what my religion was, where did I get the name from,"
Camacho-Ali said.
According
to Camacho-Ali, she was released after she showed the official a photo
of herself with her then ex-husband, Muhammad Ali. "I figured, maybe if I
show I'm really Muhammad Ali's ex-wife, they would believe me and make
it less of a problem," she said.
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