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British student claims he was denied entry to the US only because he is Muslim.
A 20-year-old British student, Laith Alani, said he felt as if he was kidnapped when he was detained by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at Orlando International Airport. He said to the Guardian that he was interrogated for nine hours and then kept in a holding cell for another 14 hours and was finally sent back.
The only reason he had to undergo this was that he is a Muslim, he said, but the CBP said they found some inconsistencies in his travel history.
CBP said Alani was inadmissible because...
According to the report, the CBP decided that Alani was inadmissible because he was “unable to overcome the presumption he was an intending immigrant.”. Alani said the incident took place on July 3 while he was coming to the US to meet a relative based in California. He had booked a one-week, £2,500 visit to Florida’s theme parks as well.Alani said that he was earlier refused a fast-track Esta visa waiver after disclosing his travel history to Iraq, where he has relatives, but had been granted a 10-year multi-entry B1/B2 tourist US visa instead. During the CBP inspection, he was asked about his relatives, neighbours, hobbies and travel history before being escorted onto a British Airways flight back to the UK.“My prior travel history was scrutinised in detail, particularly a trip to Tunisia I took in July last year, a month after obtaining my visa.
It was implied I needed permission for this travel and should have informed the embassy in advance, despite this being a last-minute trip with no plans in place prior to obtaining my visa," he said.Alani said after his inspection, he was told that he would be deported and was given an electronic signature pad to sign, he said. He was then handed a document bearing his signature, which said he had volunteered to withdraw his application to enter.
“I would never have signed it if I understood,” Alani said. “I’m autistic. I’m vulnerable. I’m legally disabled. I have a heart disorder. [The official] doesn’t care. He’s just nonstop interviewing me, nitpicking every single thing you can imagine.“I felt like I’d been kidnapped. I was threatened with handcuffs. He’s profiled me because I’m Muslim. I count myself lucky I wasn’t shot, deported to another country or beaten.”The CBP said that they kept Alani in custody because of limited flight availability. “Accusations of CBP personnel racially profiling are false. All persons arriving at a US port of entry are subject to inspection by CBP officers," a spokesperson said.
