Muhammad Ali Jr. Speaks Out About Being Detained After Officials Asked if He Was Muslim

Muhammad Ali Jr. Speaks Out About Being Detained After Officials Asked if He Was Muslim

Muhammad Ali Jr., son of legendary boxing champion Muhammad Ali, said he was detained for nearly two hours at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport earlier this month by immigration officials who repeatedly asked if he is Muslim.

Ali Jr., 44, was traveling with his mother, Khalilah Camacho-Ali, to Florida from a speaking engagement in Montego Bay, Jamaica, according to the Courier-Journal. He opened up about the Feb. 7 incident to CBS News, noting that officials separated him from his mother immediately and repeatedly asked him about his religion.

“Immigration came up to me and pulled me aside and asked me my name first and I said, ‘Muhammad Ali,’ Ali Jr. recalled. “He said, ‘What religion are you?’ and I said, ‘Muslim.’ He said, ‘Come with me.'”

Ali Jr. told CBS News that the officer took him into a room and asked him his name and religion again — “It’s like he didn’t believe me,” Ali Jr. said.

He noted that he was questioned for about an hour and 45 minutes and Camacho-Ali added, “I was scared.”

Keith E. Smith, a spokesman for the Florida division of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, declined to comment on the incident, writing in a statement to PEOPLE: “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.”

However, Ali Jr.’s family friend and lawyer, Chris Mancini, told the Courier-Journal that the Alis were taken aside because of their “Arabic-sounding names.”

“This is an outrage,” Mancini told the Miami New Times. “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.”

Trump signed an executive order prohibiting travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S. on Jan. 27. A federal judge in Seattle, Washington blocked the order a few days before Ali Jr.’s flight.

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A customs spokesman told USA Today that the agency does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation or ethnicity.

“We treat all travelers with respect and sensitivity,” the spokesman said. “Integrity is our cornerstone. We are guided by the highest ethical and moral principles.”

Camacho-Ali showed officers a photo of herself with her boxing legend ex husband and was not detained, according to the New Times. But Ali Jr. did not have a photo of his famous father, although he carried his U.S. passport.