image via: youtube

Back on February 7th, Muhammad Ali Jr and his mother, Khalilah Camacho-Ali who was the second wife of the late Muhammad Ali, were both detained at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after returning from Jamaica. According to pretty much every version of the story, they were detained simply for the fact their names sounded Muslim.

After being pulled aside, custom officials let his mother go rather quickly because she was able to produce proof that she was at one point Muhammad Ali’s wife. Her son however didn’t have anything like that with him (because why would he?) and because of that he was detained for more than two hours as custom officials harassed him. They reportedly asked him numerous times “Where did you get your name from?” and “Are you Muslim?”

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.

Chris Mancini, a family friend and lawyer 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 Trump’s executive order signed Jan. 27 that instituted a ban for citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries.

Mancini said he and the Ali family are contemplating filing a federal lawsuit and are currently trying 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.”

Officials didn’t even bother to help Camacho-Ali find her son as she was kept in the dark the entire time until finding him in the airport on her own.

Written by @IamJoeSports

H/t USA Today