A 22-year-old Palestinian man has reportedly been detained for nine days in a screening room at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas.
According to the Houston chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Muhanad J. M. Alshrouf entered the United States legally on July 5 after obtaining a valid immigrant visa and has been held in a secondary screening room at the airport ever since. Alshrouf came to the U.S. to visit his father, who is a citizen. Per a press release, he has been held without access to legal counsel or a change of clothes since arriving at the airport earlier this month.
“This young man legally entered the country with a U.S. immigrant visa, having passed every background check and security clearance. Yet he has been held in a secondary screening room for more than a week without due process or basic human compassion,” John T. Floyd, a board member of CAIR-Texas Houston and civil rights attorney, said in a statement.
Floyd called the treatment “unlawful, unjustified, and inhumane.”
Representatives for the airport declined to comment when reached by Salon. Representatives for U.S. Customs and Border Protection offered to “look into” the situation before sharing general information about customs enforcement.
It’s not the first time Palestinians and pro-Palestine activists have faced increased scrutiny of their legal status within the U.S. Despite being a permanent resident of the country, Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and held in a Louisiana facility for more than 100 days. Ward Sakeik, a Palestinian woman married to a U.S. citizen,was detained by ICE in February while returning from her honemyoon. Sakeik was just released from detention earlier this month.
