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UK imam's US business visa 'revoked without explanation' before flight UK imam's US business visa 'revoked without explanation' before flight
(about 5 hours later)
A British imam whose business visa was revoked without explanation as he tried to board a flight to America has accused the US State Department of enacting the policies of Donald Trump “before he has received a single vote”.A British imam whose business visa was revoked without explanation as he tried to board a flight to America has accused the US State Department of enacting the policies of Donald Trump “before he has received a single vote”.
Ajmal Masroor, 44, from London said he was barred by US embassy staff from boarding a Virgin flight from London’s Heathrow airport to New York last week despite having travelled to the US multiple times already this year. Ajmal Masroor, 44, is the second British Muslim over the past week to report that he had been recently barred from flying to the US, saying he was stopped by US embassy staff from boarding a Virgin flight from London’s Heathrow airport to New York last week despite having travelled to the US multiple times already this year.
The imam, who stood as a Liberal Democrat candidate in the 2010 general election, was due to lead Friday prayers at a mosque in Queens and had plans to meet friends and family. The imam, who stood as a Liberal Democrat candidate in the 2010 general election, had been due to lead Friday prayers at a mosque in Queens and says he had plans to meet friends and family. “I went through all the security barriers, showed my boarding pass on my phone, I had my security check, bag checked and went all the way to the gates when I was taken aside by an American embassy staff,” he told the Guardian.
“I went through all the security barriers, showed my boarding pass on my phone, I had my security check, bag checked and went all the way to the gates when I was taken aside by an American embassy staff,” he told the Guardian. Related: The US is stopping British citizens going on holiday – we can’t look the other way | Stella Creasy
Trump, who is seeking the Republican nomination for the presidency, caused global outrage this month when he pledged to ban Muslims from entering the US. In the past week it has also emerged that a British Muslim family heading for Disneyland was barred from boarding a flight to Los Angeles by US authorities at London’s Gatwick airport, prompting complaints from their MP, Stella Creasy.
UK ministers are to demand an explanation from the US authorities as to why the British Muslim family was refused permission to fly to Los Angeles to visit Disneyland. Home Office sources said that inquiries would be made to enable the prime minister to respond to a letter from the Creasy, who has publicised the case and said she is concerned this is happening to a growing number of British Muslims.
Masroor said he was used to being profiled and receiving further questioning and bag searches when flying to the US. “Yet this time,” he said, “when I handed over my passport they took me aside.”Masroor said he was used to being profiled and receiving further questioning and bag searches when flying to the US. “Yet this time,” he said, “when I handed over my passport they took me aside.”
He said a man who said he was from the US embassy began to question him and asked him why he was travelling to the US. He described the official as “cold, calculated and very unhelpful”.He said a man who said he was from the US embassy began to question him and asked him why he was travelling to the US. He described the official as “cold, calculated and very unhelpful”.
Masroor said he was asked about his itinerary and where he would be staying. “After some other frivolous questions, [the official] said: ‘I’m afraid your visa has been revoked.’” Masroor said he was asked about his itinerary and where he would be staying. “After some other frivolous questions, [the official] said: ‘I’m afraid your visa has been revoked.’” He added that when he asked further questions, “the official said: ‘You must have done something wrong,’ and walked away.” Masroor claims to know of other British Muslims who have also been turned away.
He said that when he asked further questions, “the official said: ‘You must have done something wrong,’ and walked away.” Masroor has previously received death threats for speaking out publicly against extremism, most notably after the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby, which he said all Muslims condemned as “inhumane and unacceptable”. In October 2013 Masroor was alerted by anti-terrorist police that he been threatened by al-Shabaab, the Islamist insurgency group in Somalia, for speaking out.
He said he saw the official interrogate others, and “every single person they took aside was visibly Muslim”. Masroor said he saw the official interrogate a young couple, the woman in hijab. “I saw him do that for a good 10-15 minutes, asking them all sorts of silly questions and giving them hell.” He said the couple were eventually able to board the plane. Masroor withdrew from running for the Lib Dems in West Ham in 2005 after being linked to a Muslim group accused of antisemitism, but was selected for Bethnal Green and Bow in 2010.
He said he saw the official interrogate others, and “every single person they took aside was visibly Muslim”. Masroor said he saw the official interrogate a young couple, the woman in hijab. “I saw him do that for a good 10 to 15 minutes, asking them all sorts of silly questions and giving them hell.” He said the couple were eventually able to board the plane.
Masroor first applied for an Esta, the electronic travel visa, in 2014 and was refused. After being contacted personally by staff from the embassy, he applied for a business and tourism B1/B2 visa that allows multiple entry to the US. Two interviews and further screening later, he said, he was given the visa and he has since then travelled to the US five times.Masroor first applied for an Esta, the electronic travel visa, in 2014 and was refused. After being contacted personally by staff from the embassy, he applied for a business and tourism B1/B2 visa that allows multiple entry to the US. Two interviews and further screening later, he said, he was given the visa and he has since then travelled to the US five times.
“In my mind, the refusal and revoking of my visa was calculated. For me it’s very callous.” He said he received a phone call from the US embassy who said they wanted to sort the matter out.“In my mind, the refusal and revoking of my visa was calculated. For me it’s very callous.” He said he received a phone call from the US embassy who said they wanted to sort the matter out.
Masroor attended the meeting in London early this week, which he said “was very inconclusive, very vague, very strange. It was like a James Bond movie scene.”
He said he was interviewed by three men who would not identity themselves and who said they would investigate the incident further. They told him they would come back to him if there was further information, or they may not come back to him. “I left quite bemused. Why did you invite me? It was a waste of my time and waste of your time.” He added: “I would not be having this conversation if my name was John Smith.”
The US embassy in London said: “The embassy is aware of this matter. We are in contact with the individual and therefore have no further public comment at this time.”The US embassy in London said: “The embassy is aware of this matter. We are in contact with the individual and therefore have no further public comment at this time.”
The imam said the treatment of British Muslims being refused entry to US “is not winning hearts and minds. If anything you are alienating good friends who are on America’s side. This behaviour needs to change.” Trump, who is seeking the Republican nomination for the presidency, prompted global condemnation this month when he pledged to ban Muslims from entering the US. But the US Customs and Border Patrol, which posts officers at foreign airports, said that “religion, faith or spiritual beliefs of an international traveller are not determining factors about his/her admissibility into the US”.
Masroor has previously received death threats for speaking out publicly against extremism, most notably after the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby, which he said all Muslims condemned as “inhumane and unacceptable”. To demonstrate that they can enter the country, CBP said applicants must “overcome ALL grounds of inadmissibility”. There are more than 60 grounds of inadmissibility, divided into categories like immigration violations, security reasons and health.
In October 2013 Masroor was alerted by anti-terrorist police that he been threatened by al-Shabaab, a terror group, for speaking out. Mohammad Tariq Mahmood, whose family spent £9,000 on tickets for the flights, told the Guardian that they were not given an explanation when they were told they could not board their plane at Gatwick. But he said he thought it was “because of the attacks on America – they think every Muslim poses a threat.”
Related: The US is stopping British citizens going on holiday – we can’t look the other way | Stella Creasy Mahmood, who noted Trump’s comments, told Sky News: “We had our visas. We had our Estas – maybe because we are Muslim and had a Muslim name … they have not given us any other explanation. We have not been in trouble with the police before.”
Masroor, who stood for the Lib Dems in Bethnal Green and Bow in 2010, said he was now receiving calls from Muslim families concerned that they would be refused entry to the US and wondering whether they should cancel their holidays. He also dismissed any suggestion his family had links to a Facebook page which talked about a connection with a radical Islamic group. “We are a normal family. We pay our taxes. We are normal people,” he said.
David Cameron is under pressure to step in after it emerged on Tuesday that a British Muslim family hoping to travel to Disneyland had been barred from entry to the US. Creasy said she knew of other cases of families being denied access to the US. A wide variety of people were affected, she said, but what they all had in common was that they were Muslim.
Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow, has written to the prime minister after a family party of 11, about to embark on a dream holiday for which they had saved for months, was approached by officials from US homeland security as they queued in the departure lounge and told that their authorisation to travel had been cancelled, without further explanation. She said she hoped Cameron would be able to assure her that “prejudice” was not becoming a factor in tacking national security.
Creasy wrote in article for the Guardian: “Online and offline discussions reverberate with the growing fear UK Muslims are being ‘trumped’ – that widespread condemnation of Donald Trump’s call for no Muslim to be allowed into America contrasts with what is going on in practice.” “Nobody is suggesting that the Americans don’t have a right to monitor and manage who enters their country,” she told Sky News. “But as this is happening on UK soil, and does impact on UK citizens and how they feel, I think it is important that we have more scrutiny about what is going on.”
Michele Thoren Bond, the state department’s assistant secretary for consular affairs, testified in Congress last week about the state department’s screening process. Bond said the US has revoked more than 122,000 visas since 2001. Of those, 9,500 were pulled because of terrorism concerns.
“We face dangerous and adaptable foes,” Bond said. “We are dedicated to maintaining our vigilance and strengthening the measures we take to protect the American public and the lives of those travelling to the United States.”
She said all visa applicants’ data is reviewed through the State Department’s Consular Lookout and Support System (Class), a database that has nearly 36m records of people found ineligible for visas “or against whom potentially derogatory information exists”. The information is drawn from US government records and sources.
She said the department also uses an “enhanced ‘pre-departure’ initiative” that relies on records to recommend that airlines not allow certain individuals to board US-bound flights.
“Almost every day, we receive requests to review and, if warranted, revoke any outstanding visas for aliens for whom new derogatory information has been discovered since the visa was issued,” Bond said. “In those circumstances, the department can and does use its authority to revoke the visa immediately, and thus prevent boarding.”