U.S. bans Dutch-Persian woman from entering the country

A 22-year-old Dutch-Persian woman who had plans to vacation in the United States with her friends had those dreams crushed when she was not allowed to board her plane to Los Angeles at Schiphol last week. Annahita Mazaheri was banned from entering the U.S. due to her Iranian surname, she said to AD. The D66 wants to know whether the U.S. immigration service has the authority to refuse passengers on Dutch territory.

Annahita was born in the Netherlands and does not have an Iranian passport. But still she was not allowed to join her friends on holiday. She suspects that this has to do with the recent tensions between the United States and Iran.

D66 parliamentarian Sjoerd Sjoerdsma asked Minister Stef Blok of Foreign Affairs for an explanation. He calls it "undesirable" that Dutch citizens are banned from another country based only on their surname He wants to know what powers the American immigration service employees stationed at Schiphol have exactly.

Sjoerdsa also wants to know exactly what the so-called pre-clearance, whereby travelers from the Netherands to the US are checked at Schiphol airport by Amercan customs officers and border guards, entails. Because the US refuses people from a number of Muslim countries, Sjoerdsma worries that the pre-clearance means that the Netherlands is cooperating with the so-called Muslim ban.

Belachelijk! Een Nederlandse staatsburger wordt op Schiphol door de VS uit de rij gehaald op basis van haar achternaam. Dat kan én mag niet! https://t.co/zW6qPirLpC

— Sjoerd Wiemer Sjoerdsma (@swsjoerdsma) January 13, 2020