Newlyweds held at Los Angeles airport for 26 hours, deported because 'groom is Muslim'

The couple was on their way to their honeymoon

A newlywed British couple was detained at Los Angeles International Airport and deported to London, “because the groom is Muslim”.

Natasha Politakis, 29, and Ali Gul, 32, from West London had spent £7,000 for a two-week honeymoon to Los Angeles, Hawaii and Las Vegas. However, upon arriving in Los Angeles, the couple was held for 26 hours, handcuffed and flown back to London.

According to Politakis and Gul, they were not given a reason for the ill treatment, but assumed that US President Donald Trump's immigration laws and his attempt to ban Muslims could be a reason, keeping in mind Gul's Turkish heritage.



“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,” The Sun quoted Politakis as saying.



“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.”

“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,” she added.

The newlyweds further stated that they were pulled aside for questioning which they believed would take about 10 minutes. Instead, the process took 26 hours during which their luggage and phones were taken away from them.

“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, said Politakis.





Meanwhile, a US embassy spokesperson said in a statement that the the US welcomes more than a million passengers arriving every day.

“The religion, faith, or spiritual beliefs of an international traveller are not determining factors about his/her admissibility into the US,” the statement read.

"Under US immigration law applicants for admission bear the burden of proof to establish that they are clearly eligible to enter the United States."