Controversy swelled after a Muslim British family of 11 was prevented from flying to Disneyland for a planned holiday, and The Telegraph reported that at least 10 more Muslim British families were stopped from boarding flights to the U.S.
The issue is sensitive because U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S. due to concerns about extremist attacks.
Stella Creasy, a member of the British opposition Labour Party, said Wednesday that U.S. officials gave no explanation for why they refused to allow her constituents to board a flight from London's Gatwick Airport on Dec. 15, so she wrote British Prime Minister David Cameron to seek his intervention. She said there is growing fear among Muslims Britons that aspects of Trump's plans are coming into practice even though they have been widely condemned.
The Muslim Council of Britain also said the last-minute denial of boarding privileges without explanation is distressing for the country's Muslim citizens. "There is a perception that such decisions are being made due to the faith or political activism of individuals," the council said.
Mohammad Tariq Mahmood, a member of the 11-member family stopped at Gatwick Airport, was quoted in reports as saying his family, which included his brother, had already checked in online, received boarding passes and reached the boarding gate when they were told they could not board. "It's because of the attacks on America, they think every Muslim poses a threat," Mahmood told The Guardian newspaper, apparently referring to the Dec.2 attack carried out by a Muslim married couple who killed 14 people at a government center in San Bernardino, California before being killed in a shootout with police. He said the family, whose members have Pakistani and British passports, had no contact with terrorists and had no prior trouble with the law. "They still haven't given us a reason," Mahmood told The Washington Post, "So the only explanation I can think of is that my name is Mohammed."
Two days after Mahmood and his family were turned away, a well-known British imam, Ajmal Masroor, said he received similar treatment when trying to travel to the U.S. for business recently. He told The Associated Press (AP) that a U.S. Embassy official prevented him from boarding a Dec. 17 flight and told him his business visa had been revoked. "I asked him why repeatedly and he said: 'You must have done something wrong,' without any explanation," Masroor said. "I am baffled, annoyed and angry," Masroor wrote in a Facebook post. He said he understood that the U.S. has the right to revoke a visa, but not providing a reason is infuriating and "does not win the hearts and minds of people. It turns them off." Masroor also blamed Trump. "It looks like Donald Trump and his followers – the maniacs, I call them – are winning the day," he told the BBC.
Known for his stance against extremism, Masroor said he had heard of at least 20 other similar cases. The Telegraph claimed those who were denied entry to the country at the last minute do not speak out for fear that they will never be allowed into the country.
The family's plans to visit Disneyland in Anaheim, California were scuttled, and Mahmood's daughter started to cry when she found out they were barred from the Los Angeles-bound flight, according to CNN. Mahmood's 10-year-old niece had drawn a picture of Mickey Mouse in her diary and written: "I'm looking forward to seeing you tomorrow." The family paid $15,000 for the trip, according to CNN.
U.S. officials denied that the Mahmood family was targeted based on their religion. Daniel Hetlage, a spokesman for the Customs and Border Protection unit of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, declined to discuss the specifics of the case, but denied in a statement that religion was a factor in deciding who could enter. "The religion, faith or spiritual beliefs of an international traveler are not determining factors about his/her admissibility into the U.S.," he said.
The statement said that there are more than 60 grounds for barred entry, including those related to health, prior criminal convictions, security reasons and immigration violations. The statement did not indicate which grounds caused the British family to be denied entry.
The largest Muslim advocacy organization in the U.S. called for an investigation, citing Trump's call for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S. in addition to Creasy's demand for an explanation.
"Widespread condemnation of Donald Trump's call for no Muslim to be allowed into America contrasts with what is going on in practice," Creasy, who represents a district in northeast London, wrote on The Guardian's website. Cameron's Downing Street office confirmed that the prime minister would respond to Creasy's request to look into what happened.
