Muslim New Jersey mayor denied entry to White House calls for Biden end to ‘discriminatory’ practices
“This is an unintelligent dragnet,” Mohamed Khairullah said at a news conference
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, N.J. — The longest-serving Muslim mayor in New Jersey on Tuesday called on the Biden administration to stop the use of “discriminatory” security practices that he said target Muslim Americans after he was abruptly blocked from joining a White House celebration to mark the end of Ramadan.
Prospect Park Mayor Mohamed Khairullah, a Democrat who has served as mayor of that North Jersey borough the past 17 years, said he was within minutes of entering the White House for a celebration of Eid al-Fitr on Monday when he was told he was not cleared by the Secret Service to attend the event. A specific reason was not given, he said.
Khairullah — who said he faced racial profiling in the past — said the scenario was due to his name allegedly being on a federal government “watch list.” The Council on American-Islamic Relations New Jersey chapter provided reporters with leaked records they said proved Khairullah was on such a list, which they described as arbitrary and discriminatory.
“At this point, our crimes are our names, ethnicities and religion,” Khairullah said during a Tuesday afternoon press conference. “I call on President Biden to correct the injustices of the previous administrations by disbanding this illegal list and correcting ill-advised and racist policies.”
“I have no due process to clear my name,” he added. “This is an unintelligent dragnet.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday referred questions on the matter to the Secret Service but noted that the event at the White House was attended by “nearly 400 Muslim-Americans.”
When reached for comment by POLITICO Tuesday, Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement that Khairullah was denied entry to the White House event, where President Joe Biden gave remarks, but was “not able to comment further on the specific protective means and methods used to conduct our security operations at the White House.”
Khairullah said “such inconveniences and harassment are not uncommon” for him. In 2019, Khairullah said he was held up for hours at JFK International Airport in New York and asked if he knew any terrorists and was forced to turn over his phone.
Khairullah said he has not heard from the White House or Secret Service since being disinvited from the event, but wants to use his platform to raise awareness for security practices that he said unfairly targets Muslim Americans.
“I’ve been to the White House complex prior,” he said. “I have posed no threat.”
At an unrelated event Tuesday morning, Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said he spoke with Khairullah the evening before. The governor noted that Khairullaha — whom he called an “outstanding American” — attended an event at the governor’s mansion in Princeton celebrating Eid this past weekend.
“We’re trying to figure out exactly what happened as we speak,” he told reporters. “As you can imagine, I spoke to Muhammad last night. He’s a very close personal friend of mine.”
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said he was “profoundly disappointed” that the mayor was barred from entering the event.
“I believe excluding him was the wrong decision,” Booker said in a statement. “This incident is not just insulting to our ideals and to Mayor Khairullah but also to the community he serves.”
Booker, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Passaic), whose district includes Prospect Park, also sent a letter to the Secret Service on Tuesday asking why the mayor was denied entry to the White House and to review his status so it doesn’t happen again.
“Mayor Khairullah is a devoted public servant, close friend and the longest-serving Muslim mayor in New Jersey, proudly serving his community for over 17 years. As a former volunteer firefighter, Mayor Khairullah has continuously demonstrated dedication to public safety,” the lawmakers wrote.
They did not mention anything about a “watch list,” but ended the letter: “We have long appreciated the work of the Biden administration to erase xenophobic policies of the past and turn a new chapter for America.”
Selaedin Maksut, executive director of CAIR-NJ, said during the Tuesday press conference that the instance was emblematic of a larger issue of “discriminatory” profiling from the governments that targets American Muslims. Maksut also called for the White House to end the use of government “watch lists.”
“Today is an opportunity for the nation for the government to consider an opportunity to disband the watch list once and for all,” he said.