Muslim Canadian woman ‘denied entry to US’ after prayer videos found on phone

JEDDAH: A Muslim Canadian woman was reportedly denied entry to the US after questions about her religious affiliation and views on President Donald Trump.
Fadwa Alaoui, who is a Moroccan-born Canadian citizen, and her cousin were asked to provide their cell phones and passwords, and faced a lengthy interrogation that took place upon their arrival at the border.
Arabic videos, which Alaoui said were Islamic prayers, were found on the phone devices.
The two adults were then taken to two separate rooms for further questioning, and turned away from the US after an hour.
“I felt humiliated, treated as if I was less than nothing. It’s as if I wasn’t Canadian,” Alaoui told CBC News.
Alaoui said she and her family came to the US for shopping in Burlington, Vermont like many Quebecers, who sometimes drive down to take advantage of deals.
But they were pulled up at the border and held by Customs and Border Patrol.
Alaoui said that most of the questions she was asked were of religious nature. “He said ‘Do you practice? Which mosque do you go to? What is the name of the imam? How often do you go to the mosque? What kind of discussions do you hear in the mosque? Does the imam talk to you directly?’,” Alaoui continued.
Alaoui said her family has been to the US multiple times before without any problems, as her parents and brother live there.
She was reportedly also asked about the recent shooting that took place at a mosque in Quebec, and whether she knew any of the victims or not.
Alaoui and her cousin said they were ultimately denied entry to the US because certain videos on their phones that were deemed to be “against” the US, CBC News reported.
David Long, a spokesman for the US Customs and Border Protection told CBC News that the agency does not discriminate against foreign nationals based on religion, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation.
“Travellers who feel they’ve wrongly been denied entry into the US can file a written complaint on the US Customs and Border Protection website,” he added.
Alaoui said that she is planning to contact her Member of Parliament and hopes that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will address the issue upon his meeting with the US President.
Alaoui’s plans to visit her parents in the spring break also went down the drain, as the trip amounts to a four-hour drive where she might be denied entry again — resulting in another four-hour drive back home.
“We don’t want that to happen to us again after eight hours of driving,” she said.