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.