.Muslim Americans barred from returning to US
A growing number of Muslim and Arab Americans are finding it difficult to return to the United States after traveling abroad, advocacy groups say.
Following an attempted Christmas day bombing on a Detroit-bound airplane, Muslim and ethnic Arab citizens of the US are bearing the brunt of the stringent wave of security measures installed at US airports.
In one case, a US citizen was told without any explanation that he could “not fly with any airlines to the USA" when he presented his US passport at the airport in Bogota, Colombia for a flight to Miami last month.
The California-born Raymond Earl Knaeble IV told The Washington Post that he was eventually sent to the US Embassy where an FBI agent questioned him about his recent conversion to Islam and a trip to Yemen where he had studied Arabic for three months.
"He said, 'I can't give you back your passport,' " Knaeble explained, adding that he has yet to be provided with explanation despite the passing of almost three weeks.
Khalilah Sabra, director of the immigrant justice program at the Falls Church-based Muslim American Society, said the extensive questioning and delays of Arabs and Muslims has seen a 50 percent increase since Christmas, with about 16 cases being reported each month.
"Getting out [of the US] is okay. No one says anything, but when they try to come back they are not allowed in, or they are being questioned," she said.
Security guidelines at US airports were further tightened after a failed attempt to allegedly blow up a US airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day.
The end result of this is said to be rather “chilling” for travelers -- mostly Muslims and Arabs-- who are being singled out for airport questioning and screening.
"People do whatever they can now not to cross borders if they're Muslim because they feel there's some potential for humiliation," said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American Islamic Relations.
PressTV
Following an attempted Christmas day bombing on a Detroit-bound airplane, Muslim and ethnic Arab citizens of the US are bearing the brunt of the stringent wave of security measures installed at US airports.
In one case, a US citizen was told without any explanation that he could “not fly with any airlines to the USA" when he presented his US passport at the airport in Bogota, Colombia for a flight to Miami last month.
The California-born Raymond Earl Knaeble IV told The Washington Post that he was eventually sent to the US Embassy where an FBI agent questioned him about his recent conversion to Islam and a trip to Yemen where he had studied Arabic for three months.
"He said, 'I can't give you back your passport,' " Knaeble explained, adding that he has yet to be provided with explanation despite the passing of almost three weeks.
Khalilah Sabra, director of the immigrant justice program at the Falls Church-based Muslim American Society, said the extensive questioning and delays of Arabs and Muslims has seen a 50 percent increase since Christmas, with about 16 cases being reported each month.
"Getting out [of the US] is okay. No one says anything, but when they try to come back they are not allowed in, or they are being questioned," she said.
Security guidelines at US airports were further tightened after a failed attempt to allegedly blow up a US airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day.
The end result of this is said to be rather “chilling” for travelers -- mostly Muslims and Arabs-- who are being singled out for airport questioning and screening.
"People do whatever they can now not to cross borders if they're Muslim because they feel there's some potential for humiliation," said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American Islamic Relations.
PressTV
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