Muhammad Ali’s son and ex-wife declared a “showdown” over religious freedom against President Donald Trump a month after they were detained by immigration officials at a Florida airport.
Muhammad Ali’s son and ex-wife declared a “showdown” over religious freedom against President Donald Trump a month after they were detained by immigration officials at a Florida airport.
Muhammad Ali Jr. told members of Congress Thursday he thinks his recent detention for extended questioning shows the need for legislation to end racial profiling.
Democratic lawmakers asked him and his mother, Khalilah Camacho-Ali, to speak and answer questions during a forum highly critical of Trump’s immigration policies. No Republicans attended.
Ali said he was detained for more than 90 minutes upon returning to the United States last month from Jamaica. He said agents asked him who gave him his name and his religion.
The experience left him and his mother convinced they were targeted because they are Muslim and have Arabic names.
Ali said he felt like his “human rights” were violated.
“I felt just like I felt at my father’s funeral. I didn’t know what to think. I was just dumbfounded,” he said.
Ali and his mother challenged lawmakers to “step into the ring” and support legislation that has struggled to make it out of committee. Supporters expanded the legislation’s scope this year to ban religious profiling by law enforcement agencies, a move they said was necessary to counter what they consider anti-Muslim sentiment in policies enacted by the Trump administration.
The legislation would provide grants to law enforcement agencies that adopt best practices and training to prevent profiling.
They also are calling for an end to Trump’s travel ban and are launching a “Step Into the Ring” campaign, drawing on support of former boxing greats including Evander Holyfield, Larry Holmes and Roberto Duran.
They are framing the effort directly as a fight against the president, using the hashtag #AlivsTrump.
“There shouldn’t be a travel ban,” Camacho Ali said. “If I don’t speak up now, they’re going to keep harassing us.”