British Muslim student deported despite valid US visa

ORLANDO (MNTV) — A 20-year-old British Muslim law student was detained for nearly 24 hours and deported from the United States despite holding a valid 10-year tourist visa, in a case raising fresh questions about religious and racial profiling at U.S. borders.

Laith Alani, a law student from Oxford, arrived at Orlando International Airport on July 3 for a week-long holiday. 

Instead, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers questioned him for nine hours, held him roughly 14 hours in a cell, and searched his devices and social media, asking about his relatives, neighbors, and past travel. 

Alani says the treatment was driven partly by his Muslim identity and his prior visits to Iraq and Tunisia; he had been denied a visa-waiver after disclosing the Iraq travel but was later granted a 10-year visa.

CBP disputes his account, saying it found “inconsistencies” in his travel history and determined he had not overcome the legal presumption that he intended to immigrate. 

The agency says Alani voluntarily withdrew his application for admission; he maintains the decision was presented as unavoidable and that he did not understand what he was signing.

CBP denied profiling, saying all travelers are subject to inspection and attributing the detention’s length partly to limited flights.

The case has drawn concern from Muslim and Arab advocacy groups, which say detentions and device searches of British Muslim travelers are increasingly common. 

Alani’s MP, Anneliese Dodds, raised the case with the U.K. Foreign Office, which confirmed it provided consular assistance. 

A valid visa does not guarantee admission, and travelers have little ability to challenge an officer’s decision once in secondary inspection — while profiling allegations are hard to prove, since border authorities can cite immigration concerns without disclosing their full basis.