Advertisement

  1. National

Muslim dad stopped from going to US tells of family 'devastation'

A father whose family holiday to Disneyland in the US was cancelled at the last minute by border officials has told of their "devastation".

Fitness instructor Mohammad Tariq Mahmood was among 11 members of his family hoping to fly from Gatwick to Los Angeles - but told ITV News they were pulled from the queue to board the plane by a border control officer who asked to see their passports.

Religion, faith and spiritual beliefs of travellers are "not determining factors" when deciding whether of not they are allowed to enter the United States, the US Customs and Border Protection office said.

View all 5 updates ›

Religion 'not determining factor' when admitting travellers to US

US customs officials have been accused of refusing to let a British Muslim family travel to Disneyland Credit: REUTERS/Mike Blake

Religion, faith and spiritual beliefs of travellers are "not determining factors" when deciding whether of not they are allowed to enter the United States, according to the country's Customs and Border Protection office.

A statement from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office, released in the wake of allegations that U.S. security officials refused to allow a British Muslim family of 11 to board a flight from Gatwick to Los Angeles to visit Disneyland, said:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) welcomes more than a million passengers arriving to the United States every day. CBP officers are charged with enforcing not only immigration and customs laws, but they enforce over 400 laws for 40 other agencies.

The religion, faith, or spiritual beliefs of an international traveler are not determining factors about his/her admissibility into the U.S.

Under U.S. immigration law [Section 291 of the INA [8 USC 1361] applicants for admission bear the burden of proof to establish that they are clearly eligible to enter the United States. In order to demonstrate that they are admissible, the applicant must overcome ALL grounds of inadmissibility.

– U.S. CBP
  1. Read more
  2. 5 updates
Muslim dad stopped from going to US tells of family 'devastation'

More top news