The Guardian reports:
A British Muslim schoolteacher travelling to New York last week as a member of a school party from south Wales was denied entry to the United States.
Juhel Miah and a group of children and other teachers were about to take off from Iceland on 16 February on their way to the US when he was removed from the plane at Reykjavik. The previous week, on the 10 February, a US appeals court had upheld a decision to suspend Donald Trump’s executive order that temporarily banned entry to the country from seven Muslim-majority countries.
Mr. Miah is a British citizen. The article did not mention whether or not he became a British citizen or was born one, but what difference does that make anyway? Mr. Milah is a British citizen and had proper visa documentation.
The teacher’s employer, Neath Port Talbot council, has written to the US embassy in London demanding an explanation and the issue is being taken up by Welsh politicians.
A council spokesman said Miah was left feeling belittled at what it described as “an unjustified act of discrimination”. The council said the teacher is a British citizen and does not have dual nationality. [emphasis mine]
Not a dual citizen with one of the seven banned countries (although the ban is now on hold).
In any case, whatever Mr. Juhel’s or his family’s nation of origin, or whatever country he might have had a dual citizenship with—and he does not—there is no reasonable reason, or any reason for that matter, for his boarding the plane to have been denied.
Neath Port Talbot council pointed out that UK government advice states: “We have confirmed with the US government that British passport holders (regardless of country of birth or whether they hold another passport/nationality) aren’t affected by the executive order.”
It also drew attention to a statement made by the foreign secretary Boris Johnson at the end of last month in the House of Commons, when he said: “We have received assurances from the US embassy that the executive order will make no difference to any British passport holder, irrespective of their country of birth or whether they hold another passport.”
Can the British government take the U.S. government at its word? The U.S. government has not commented on this incident. I look forward to hearing what the explanation might be.
In any case, perhaps this incident gives the Parliament more important information as it debates whether or not to rescind the invitation extended to Mr. Trump for a state visit.
Naz Shah, a Labour Party politician, said that Trump’s stance on Muslims was divisive and dangerous and that by “bringing out the crockery, the china, the red carpet, what we are doing is endorsing all those views.”
“As a Muslim in this house, I am not an enemy to Western democracy. I am part of Western democracy,” she said. [my emphasis]
We await comment from the Trump administration.