The
extended family, which included Tariq Mahmood, his brother Zahid and his
wife Sadaf were at the gate, along with seven children. Their bags were
on the plane. They said they were looking forward to visiting the Grand
Canyon, Disneyland and other American tourist sites and were not given
a reason for the ban, according to Tariq Mahmood.
However,
a check by CNN of traveling family members on UK Electoral Roll shows
an email address associated with 18-year-old Hamza Mahmoud that links to
a suspicious Facebook page.
The page
appears to belong to a Birmingham resident with a similar name, whose
occupation is listed as Supervisor at Taliban and Leader at al-Qaeda.
When
asked by reporters about the Facebook link, the family said the email
listed on the electoral roll is incorrect, missing some characters, and
that the son lives in London, not Birmingham.
ariq Mahmoud confirmed his son Hamza was
part of the trip, and he told CNN the family had no knowledge of the
Facebook page until asked about it by a reporter.
Earlier, Tariq Mahmoud told CNN: "We've been Trumped."
There
was no allegation that the U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump
played a direct role in their case. The implication, rather, was that
the atmosphere to which Trump has contributed, with his proposal to ban
Muslims from entering the country, played a role in their exclusion
solely, they believe, on the grounds of religion.
Asked
about the incident on Wednesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
spokesman Jim Burns told CNN that religion is never a factor in
admissibility. "The religion, faith, or spiritual beliefs of an
international traveler are not determining factors about his/her
admissibility into the U.S.," he said in a statement emailed to CNN, but
added that under U.S. immigration law, "applicants for admission bear
the burden of proof to establish that they are clearly eligible to enter
the United States."
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