Couple on their way to £7,000 Hawaii honeymoon are instead locked in Los Angeles airport detention then sent back to England 'because the bridegroom is a Muslim'
Couple on their way to £7,000 Hawaii honeymoon are instead locked in Los Angeles airport detention then sent back to England 'because the bridegroom is a Muslim'
A British couple say they were treated like criminals when they arrived at Los Angeles airport for their dream honeymoon.
Natasha Politakis, 29, and husband Ali Gul were due to fly to Hawaii after saving £7,000 for a romantic getaway to celebrate the beginning of their marriage.
But instead the pair were thrown into a detention centre without explanation before being sent on a flight back to England.
Upset and embarrassed, Ms Politakis said she believed the treatment was because her partner - a successful estate agent from Enfield in London - is Muslim and has Turkish heritage.
The nightmare began when they arrived at the American airport to begin what they hoped would be a day they would never forget.
They were told they would need to be interviewed for 'five minutes' but were instead detained for more than a day before being flown back to the UK - despite having already booked and paid for a trip to Hawaii and arranged necessary visas.
Ms Politaksi said: 'I am in utter shock that this has happened. We had just got married, we were on our way to our honeymoon as excited as anything and never expected that we would be deported.
'We were treated like criminals and we had all the relevant documentation and answered all their questions. It's not okay to treat people like that.
She said: 'As far as we knew before we left everything was fine, but as soon as we got there they wouldn't let us in.
'We believe since Trump was elected, they took one look at his name, thought he was Muslim and didn't let him in. We are so shocked at how we were treated.'
The couple were refused a shower and had their possessions confiscated for the entire period of their detention and were only given their phones back once they were on UK soil.
When they tried to find out why they were detained, authorities handcuffed them before escorting them onto a flight back to London.
Ms Politaksi said: 'As we were going through immigration in LA, they looked at our passports and asked us to go into a side room to answer some questions.
'They stuck us in this detention centre in the airport, stripped us of all our possessions and didn't let us shower, get a coffee or change our clothes for 26 hours.
A British couple say they were treated like criminals when they arrived at Los Angeles airport for their dream honeymoon.
Natasha Politakis, 29, and husband Ali Gul were due to fly to Hawaii after saving £7,000 for a romantic getaway to celebrate the beginning of their marriage.
But instead the pair were thrown into a detention centre without explanation before being sent on a flight back to England.
Upset and embarrassed, Ms Politakis said she believed the treatment was because her partner - a successful estate agent from Enfield in London - is Muslim and has Turkish heritage.
The nightmare began when they arrived at the American airport to begin what they hoped would be a day they would never forget.
They were told they would need to be interviewed for 'five minutes' but were instead detained for more than a day before being flown back to the UK - despite having already booked and paid for a trip to Hawaii and arranged necessary visas.
Ms Politaksi said: 'I am in utter shock that this has happened. We had just got married, we were on our way to our honeymoon as excited as anything and never expected that we would be deported.
'We were treated like criminals and we had all the relevant documentation and answered all their questions. It's not okay to treat people like that.
She said: 'As far as we knew before we left everything was fine, but as soon as we got there they wouldn't let us in.
'We believe since Trump was elected, they took one look at his name, thought he was Muslim and didn't let him in. We are so shocked at how we were treated.'
The couple were refused a shower and had their possessions confiscated for the entire period of their detention and were only given their phones back once they were on UK soil.
When they tried to find out why they were detained, authorities handcuffed them before escorting them onto a flight back to London.
Ms Politaksi said: 'As we were going through immigration in LA, they looked at our passports and asked us to go into a side room to answer some questions.
'They stuck us in this detention centre in the airport, stripped us of all our possessions and didn't let us shower, get a coffee or change our clothes for 26 hours.
Comments
Post a Comment