LONDON » British Prime Minister David Cameron will look into claims that U.S. officials prevented a British Muslim family of 11 from flying to Disneyland for a planned holiday.
The issue is sensitive because U.S. Republican presidential contender Donald Trump has called for a temporary ban on Muslims visiting the U.S. due to concerns about extremist attacks.
Stella Creasy, a member of the opposition Labour Party, said today that U.S. officials gave no explanation for refusing to allow her constituents to board a flight from Gatwick Airport on Dec. 15, so she wrote Cameron seeking his intervention. She said there is “growing fear” among British Muslims that aspects of Trump’s plans are coming into practice even though they have been widely condemned.
A top Muslim group said cases like this appear to be related to religion and are worrying for British Muslims.
Mohammed Zahid Mahmood said he and his family — two brothers and their nine children — were told nothing except that they were not allowed to travel to the U.S. despite having previously obtained clearance.
“We were the only family that was of Asian, Muslim, sort of appearance, and it seemed a little bit embarrassing that only we were taken out (of the line to board),” he told the BBC.
Cameron’s office said today that he would investigate the matter. He had earlier characterized Trump’s policy as “divisive and wrong.”
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman said the “religion, faith or spiritual beliefs of an international traveler are not determining factors” when deciding if a person can travel to the United States. The spokesman said people can be denied entry for a variety of reasons including health-related issues, prior criminal convictions, security concerns or on miscellaneous grounds.
Ajmal Masroor, a London-based imam and broadcaster, said he received similar treatment when trying to travel to the U.S. for business recently. He told the AP that a U.S. Embassy official prevented him from boarding a Dec. 17 flight and told him his business visa had been revoked. He said he had never had any problem travelling on that visa before.
“I asked him why repeatedly and he said ‘You must have done something wrong,’ without any explanation,” Masroor said.
He said he feared that U.S. officials were singling out Muslims.
“This is absolutely discrimination. It is not acceptable and playing into the hands of the terrorists,” Masroor said.
The Muslim Council of Britain also said the last-minute denial of boarding privileges without explanation is distressing for Muslims.
“There is a perception that such decisions are being made due to the faith or political activism of individuals,” the council said.
It’s OUR country…WE decide who enters and who does not. Mind your own damn business.
“We” had already granted them approval, otherwise they wouldn’t have been at the airport. If we’re gonna be “Indian givers”, then we should just give the country back to the “Indians”.
HanabataDays, they were not already granted approval to enter the US. Their so-called authorization was the visa waiver program which allows people from Great Briton and certain other countries to enter the US for stays up to 90 days without a visa. However, in order to travel without a visa under the VWP, travelers must first have authorization through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) prior to boarding a US bound air or sea carrier. An approved ESTA allows a citizen of a VWP participating country to travel to a US port of entry where they may request to enter the US, but it does not guarantee entry. The Department of Homeland Security, US Customs and Border Protection officials at the port of entry have the authority to permit or deny admission to the US. Since the Muslim travelers were not allowed to board their aircraft to the US, my guess is that they did not have ESTA approval. The rules apply to everyone, not just Muslims.
HanabataDays is, of course, correct. If you’re going to write about the law, then you should at least read and understand it.
So, klas, why don’t you explain to us how it really works?
And there’s no faster way of destroying your reputation than having an irrational, inconsistent process of entering the country.
Well, Duh!!!! Your comment should be filed under the category “Monumentally Obvious to the Catatonic”. Of course, the barring of this handful of people is a meaningless example of that fact.
News bulletin to Choyd: Our immigration policy (which includes lack of policy, tens of millions of illegals, tens of thousands of released criminal aliens, and thousands upon thousands of visa scofflaws) has been, for decades, “an irrational, inconsistent process of entering the country.”
Ironic an American (assuming you are one) would say “mind your own damn business” when it’s US who have been doing exactly the opposite of that on the world stage. A lot of terrorists became terrorists because of us not “minding our own business”.
agreed, cholo says most of the terrorists are our creation.
Really? How about you quantify “a lot”. Sounds to me like more of the same from the left which blames the US while ignoring the roots and origins of radical islam which encourages a hatred of western civilization simply based on its existence.
I should have said “all”. Granted some of what the terrorists perceive as injustices is open for debate but there’s no doubt it’s because our government interferes in their internal affairs, not because we exist, despite what Trump and Carson may tell you. Ever wonder why certain non-Muslim countries are targeted by terrorists and others are not? Also radical Islam is primarily at war with other Muslims, not the West. But I guess right wing loons like yourself just love to spread fear and misinformation.
Yes it is our country, but our country is governed by rule of law. It foreign national follows our laws and get permission to travel here then we should not deny him/her entrance at the 11th hour for no reason. Its not that they should mind their own business, but rather we should mind the conduct of our government officials in how they administer our laws.
Actually, the immigration and customs people “at the gate” do have the authority to deny someone admission. You may have a visa or an understanding, but they are the last line of defense, the only current personal interaction, and they even have the authority to take possession of a person’s legal green card then and there. You have no full permission to enter the United States until you have passed that last interaction.
true. Im not sure why everyone thinks they have the right to come in and out of America. It is a priviledge to be able to travel to any country and any country can turn down anyone they want. I had family from Greece turned down once who wanted to move here but the ‘southern european’ quote had been met and they had to wait at least 6 more years. so personally, I dont care. we dont have open borders, its no 1776 any longer, things have changed.
I guess if they want to visit Disneyland, they’ll have to get Dumbo to give them a lift or Tinker Bell to wave her wand and grant them wings. Maybe they should just go to Tokyo Disneyland, the Japanese will be happy to have their money.
Japan isn’t particularly fond of muslims.
Japan is a lot more savvy about Muslims – they don’t want any part of them.
You’re lying. Japan doesn’t ask anything about religion when entering the country. You must watch FoxNews.
Kalastri, IRT to my reply to HanabataDays, you said HanabataDays was correct (and I was wrong), and you suggested that I at least read and understand the law (rules for the Visa Waiver Program) before commenting on it. Kalastri, it may surprise you to know that my information came right from the source, that being the U.S. Department of State. Here is the link if you care to educate yourself: https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/visit/visa-waiver-program.html. No need to apologize for your false accusation.
Let them visit Disneyland in France where Muslims are welcomed by the French with open arms, hearts and wallets and are then blown to bits by Muslims welcomed into their country.
Paris is closer.
Yep! Just use the tunnel and drive over if you are not claustrophobic?
Didn’t know there were direct flights to Disneyland.
I read nothing in the story that mentioned a direct flight.
me neither.
Headline: “US Blocks UK Muslim Family From Boarding Plane to Disneyland”
Probably meant to LAX, although there is Orange County Airport(John Wayne) which is about 10 miles from DL.
Like I said, I read nothing in the story that mentioned a direct flight.
I meant to say Anaheim.
sounds like media sensationalism… too little to go on to pass judgement
good
I feel safer already.
2 brothers travelling with nine “kids” including other adult males. House in UK reported to have unusual activity and under surveillance for terror activity. Try presenting the whole story.
Yup, there was a reason and more to the situation. Intelligence Agencies won’t share what they got on this family. You have to be an idiot if your going to tell the media about derogatory information you have collected. Thank you MI5 for sharing.
Yeah, it is our country and keep them out if they pose a threat…..about time.
Obviously they were on the no fly list. There could be a family member that is under the extremist influence and that ruined it for the rest. About time we get our act together on this. Lots of crybabies about this but there has to be some sacrifice for safety.
Agree – they don’t have rights to travel to the US so they need to get over that!
bluhawaii, I agree it would seem less suspicious if the kids’ mothers were amongst the group. Too bad there are no group lie detectors invented yet. Then there’d be the “unconstitutionality” “U-Card” played by American citizens.
You think the Constitution is some card to be played? That shows the depth of your ignorance.
These travelers aren’t American so the constitution doesn’t apply to them=no rights
I wonder if the fathers bothered to get “permission letters” from the mothers of the children before trying to fly the kids out of the country? Without those permission letters, officials don’t have to let the family leave. But more likely, one person in the group (or one of their family members) was flagged and that ruined it for the rest of them. I’m sure there was a reason they were flagged, just maybe the US officials don’t want to reveal it.
Don’t fret.
Possibly two terrorist activities might have been prevented… one could have happened at Disneyland.
Ditto.
Yet another example of a demo slant on the news article. SA is not telling the whole story, at least one of the 11 is under investigation for ties to extremism. Not telling the whole truth about a controversial story like this is the same as lying, but whatever sell papers right SA?
Lets see, “weenie” bomber – muslim, Christmas time; “shoe” bomber – muslim, Christmas time; “toner cartridge” bomb – muslim origin, Christmas time; gander airline bombing – muslim origin, Christmas time. Yeah, must be “racist, xenophobic” America’s fault.
Direct flights from the UK to Disneyland, who knew?
Imagine if the plane was taken over and then crashed into DL. The amount of devastation could be from the Jihadist playbook?
Are you simply afraid of every imagined threat? It’s remarkable what cowards so many Americans have become.
Yes, 14 people dead (San Bernardino) is a horrific tragedy, 15,000 dead (approximate murders in the US annually) is a statistic that people pay no attention to. People like you are so far detached from reality it’s scary.
Other news stories out there have much more detail than this one that leaves out some important findings. Don’t believe everything you see in the press, at least the first iterations.
Sounds like some Trump supporters were involved. Now we will see if GB retaliates by not allowing certain US groups to travel to their country.