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Yassmin Abdel-Magied in US deportation drama

YASSMIN Abdel-Magied has described an “aggressive” exchange with US officials before she was deported from the US.

Marnie O'NeillMarnie O'Neill
@marnieoneill7
5 min read
April 12, 2018 - 9:20PM
Activist and author Yassmin Abdel-Magied claims she is about to be deported from the US. Picture: Chris Pavlich
Activist and author Yassmin Abdel-Magied claims she is about to be deported from the US. Picture: Chris Pavlich

CONTROVERSIAL Australian author and activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied has described the “aggressive” confrontation with a US immigration officials that led to her being deported just three hours after arriving the country for a speaking engagement in New York City.

Ms Abdel-Magied revealed the unfolding drama in a series of tweets Thursday morning and saying she was on a plane after having been turned away by immigration officials in Minneapolis.

US authorities have said Ms Abdel-Magied had been denied entry because she “did not possess an appropriate visa”, but in a statement provided to The Project, the former engineer and Young Queenslander of the Year said she had entered the US with the same visa before without trouble.

“They’ve deported me and cancelling my visa because they’ve deemed what I’m here to do (speak about unconscious bias) as work not business,” she said.

“I’ve been in and spoken at companies and events on this topic on this visa numerous times without an issue, and the advice has been it wouldn’t be a problem.

“When I asked why this was different, they just smiled and said immigration laws had too much grey area.”

Ms Abdel-Magied said the officer was aggressive, and claimed at one point said she would “shoot”.

“When the officer got aggressive, my gut instinct to use humour kicked in,” Ms Abdel-Magied told The Project.

“I jokingly asked if she was going to shoot me. She said, ‘I will’.”

Yassmin Abdel-Magied said she had entered the US on the same visa in the past without any trouble. Twitter
Yassmin Abdel-Magied said she had entered the US on the same visa in the past without any trouble. Twitter

The London-based former ABC presenter was due to speak at the PEN World Voices Festival next week and organisers have express dismay at her deportation in a strongly worded statement.

Ms Abdel-Magied said she could not return to the US until she gets another visa.

“Though now I”ve been deported, how hard is that going to be? Maybe this is how it’s all supposed to work?” she said.

Earlier, New York Times Sydney correspondent Isabella Kwai says she spoke to Ms Abdel-Magied “right before” she was deported and was told that border agents had claimed her B1/B2 visitor visa “was the wrong visa for speakers, although she’s entered on it before to speak at events”.

Ms Kwai tweeted part of her conversation with Ms Abdel-Magied: “‘My hearts been on double time for the last three hours,” she said.

Ms Abdel-Magied starting tweeting her ordeal earlier this morning after border agents seized her phone and cancelled her visa shortly after touching down in Minneapolis.

“I’m currently at the border and they’ve said I’m being deported,” she wrote. “This should be fun. What are my rights?”

The former engineer and Queensland Young Australian of the Year was scheduled to appear at two events at the Pen America World Voices Festival alongside US author Amani Al-Khatahtbeh on April 18 and April 21.

They were due to discuss the challenges of life as young Muslim women in Western countries. Ms Abdel-Magied was also supposed to take part in a panel discussion about online bullying.

Festival organisers reacted with fury to the news, with PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel calling on authorities to reverse their decision and allow Ms Abdel-Magied to participate.

“We are dismayed that an invited guest to our annual PEN World Voices Festival in New York, which starts on Monday, Yassmin Abdel-Magied, herself the founder of an organisation called Youth Without Borders, was turned away by US Immigration officials in Minneapolis, reportedly had her phone and passport seized, and was put back on a plane to Amsterdam,” Ms Nossel said in a statement.

“Abdel-Magied is an advocate of the rights of Muslim women and refugees and is a citizen of Australia, travelling on that country’s passport.

“The very purpose of the PEN World Voices Festival, founded after 9/11 to sustain the connectedness between the U.S. and the wider world, is in jeopardy at a time when efforts at visa bans and tightened immigration restrictions threaten to choke off vital channels of dialogue that are protected under the First Amendment right to receive and impart information through in-person cultural exchange.

“We understand that Yassmin was travelling on a type of visa that she had used in the past for similar trips without issue. We call on Customs and Border Patrol to admit her to the U.S. so that she can take her rightful place in the urgent international conversation to take place at the Festival next week.”

However, US Customs and Border Protection this afternoon issued a statement saying Ms Abdel-Magied was turned away because she did not have the correct visa.

“During the inspection, CBP officers determined this individual did not possess the appropriate visa to receive the monetary compensation for the speaking engagements she had planned during her visit to the United States,” it said.

“As such, she was deemed inadmissable to enter the United States for her visit, but was allowed to withdraw her application for admission.”

The CBP said Ms Abdel-Magied would be “eligible to reapply for future visits”.

Australian Citizenship Minister Alan Tudge told Sky News this morning that it was unusual for an Australian citizen to be refused a visa.

Meanwhile, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed it is “ready to offer consular assistance” to Ms Abdel-Magied should she request it.

Ms Abdel-Magied left Australia to start a new life in London following a string of controversies.

She first made headlines last year when she described Islam as “the most feminist religion” during a fiery debate with Australian politician Jackie Lambie on ABC’s Q & A.

She later caused controversy with an Anzac Day Facebook post saying, “Lest We Forget (Manus, Nauru, Syria, Palestine …)”, which some described as disrespectful to Australian soldiers.

Her ABC TV show Australia Wide was axed the following month.

In November last year, in her first Australian television appearance since she moved overseas, she told The Project’s hosts the reaction was “surreal” and compared Australia to an “abusive boyfriend”.

“I went from being, like, this young Queenslander of the Year and on all these kind of boards and councils and I was like the good Muslim girl, the darling. Next minute it’s like everything exploded,” she said.

“It’s not my job to criticise other countries.”

Ms Abdel-Magied was born in Sudan in 1991 and migrated to Australia with her family a year later, after the government was overthrown by an Islamic military coup during the Second Sudanese Civil War.

She helped establish Youth Without Borders and has served on the Council for Multicultural Australia, Federal ANZAC Centenary Commemoration Youth Working Group, the 2014 Youth G20 Summit and the Council for Australian-Arab Relations.

Ms Abdel-Magied recently made her acting debut in SBS digital series Homecoming Queens.

She will return to Australian screens with Hijabistas! a six-part series on Islamic fashion. The show will air on ABC iview on May 1.

Yassmin Abdel-Magied sits down with Tom Gleeson for Hard Chat
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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/national/yassmin-abdelmagied-in-us-deprtation-drama/news-story/a735319d2c18126f33c92910e9fd399a