Retired police chief says he was detained at the airport because of his name
While returning home from his mother's birthday celebration in Paris, Hassan Aden, the retired police chief of Greenville, North Carolina, says he was unfairly detained for 90 minutes at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport because of his name.
The 52-year-old naturalized American citizen was born in Italy to an Italian mother and Somali father, and has lived in the United States for 42 years. Aden told The Washington Post he was asked when he arrived at customs on March 13 if he was traveling alone, and when he replied in the affirmative, he was told to "take a walk." He said he was brought back to an office with signs that said "remain seated at all times" and "use of telephones strictly prohibited" without being told why he was there. After several minutes, Aden said he asked the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer why he was being detained and told him about his career in law enforcement. The officer was unmoved, Aden said, and told him he wasn't being detained and someone on a "watch list" was using his name.
A different officer eventually took over his case, and after she contacted another agency multiple times, Aden was let go. "I wondered about others," Aden said. "What happens to people when they don't know any better? I'm sure it's terrorizing a lot of people and not making us any safer." He is not a Muslim, but told the Post that he believes the "cold and unwelcoming" new immigration policies set forth by the Trump administration could make authorities suspicious of his name. "I fully support the mission of the Customs and Border Protection agency," he said. "And I fully appreciate the difficulty of their job and the dangers of their job. What I question here is essentially their policies and what they view as a reasonable detention. And I would venture to say that 90 minutes is an unreasonable detention when there is no probable cause to believe that a crime has occurred."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A spokeswoman for U.S Customs and Border Protection said she could not comment on Aden's claim because of privacy, adding, "At times, travelers may be inconvenienced as we work through the arrival process to ensure those entering the country are doing so legitimately and lawfully."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Is Donald Trump behind potential Gaza ceasefire and will it work?
Today's Big Question Israel and Hamas are 'on the brink' of a peace deal and a hostage exchange, for which the incoming president may take credit
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Chemnitz: an 'unlikely renaissance' for the 'forgotten' town
The Week Recommends The birthplace of Germany's industrial revolution is hoping to reinvent itself
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
Maha Kumbh Mela: world's largest religious festival gets under way in India
In The Spotlight Politics of Hindu nationalism has cast a shadow over event touted as biggest ever gathering of humanity
By The Week UK Published
-
Police ID driver of exploded Cybertruck, can't see motive
Speed Read An Army Green Beret detonated a homemade bomb in a Tesla Cybertruck in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Teenage girl kills 2 in Wisconsin school shooting
Speed Read 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow fatally shot a teacher and student at Abundant Life Christian School
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Penny acquitted in NYC subway choking death
Speed Read Daniel Penny was found not guilty of homicide in the 2023 choking death of Jordan Neely
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Suspect in CEO shooting caught, charged with murder
Speed Read Police believe 26-year-old Luigi Mangione killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
UnitedHealthcare CEO killed in 'brazen, targeted' hit
Speed Read Police are conducting a massive search for Brian Thompson's shooter
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
DOJ demands changes at 'abhorrent' Atlanta jail
Speed Read Georgia's Fulton County Jail subjects inmates to 'unconstitutional' conditions, the 16-month investigation found
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
China tries to bury deadly car attack
Speed Read An SUV drove into a crowd of people in Zhuhai, killing and injuring dozens — but news of the attack has been censored
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Menendez brothers may go free in LA prosecutor plan
Speed Read Prosecutors are asking for the brothers to be resentenced for the 1989 murder of their parents
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published