Homeland Security Bans Muslim Family From Flying to Disneyland

According to the U.K. daily, The Guardian, a British Muslim family of 11 were boarding a plane at London’s Gatwick airport destined for Anaheim, Calif., when they were stopped.

The DHS had them barred from boarding the plane amid terrorist threats, despite having been granted travel authorization online ahead of their holiday vacation. There was no comment from DHS or even the U.S. embassy in London about this incident.

Senior politicians have been drawn into the case, warning that a growing number of British Muslims are being barred from the US without being told the reason for their exclusion.

Aides to the prime minister, David Cameron, have promised that he will examine the case, which comes as a leading community group in the US has warned that Muslims are being subject to “an unprecedented and dramatic increase” in violent and hostile incidents.

USA Today and BBC reported one family member was Mohammed Tariq Mahmood, a gym owner who was born in Pakistan. He said his family was approached by a British border control agent just moments before boarding. That agent said he had gotten a call from U.S. officials in Washington, D.C., barring Mahmood from boarding the flight.

“A man from UK Border Force came and said, ‘I’m sorry you can’t board this flight. We received a call from Washington DC that we can’t allow this family to board the flight’.”

“Because I have a beard and sometimes wear Islamic dress I get stopped and asked questions. I feel that is part of the deal of flying. I understand that,” he said. “The fact that we were the only ones who were of Asian or Muslim appearance, it seemed embarrassing that we were the only ones taken out of the queue. For the children to take this in is very difficult.”

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