A German Muslim businessman of Syrian extraction, who wanted to join his American wife and daughter in California for a holiday visit, was detained for four days in a holding cell in Las Vegas and sent back home to Germany without explanation.

Majed Shehadeh, 62, was interrogated for twelve hours by border officials at McCarran International Airport last Thursday after arriving on a flight from Frankfurt. He was then handcuffed and transported to a detention cell, where he was locked in with 25 others, and stripped of his shoes, jacket and prescription heart medication.

Shehadeh had planned to join his wife of thirty years Joanne Mulligan, and pay a surprise visit to their American-born daughter who had recently passed her bar exams in California.

US border official declines to discuss specifics

Roxanne Hercules, a spokeswoman for US Customs and Border Protection confirmed on Tuesday that Shehadeh had been denied entry, but would not discuss the specifics of the case.

Normally German nationals, as well as most other EU citizens, are granted visa waivers to the United States for visits under 90 days, but Hercules told the Associated Press that Shehadeh's visa could have been denied because of "a criminal record or terrorism issue."

Last October, US border officials denied entry to an Islamic scholar from South Africa and one month later, six imams were taken off a US Airways domestic flight after one passenger reported overhearing the group criticize the US war in Iraq.

Civil rights group cite anti-Muslim discrimination

Muslim-American activist groups have called the treatment of Shehadeh a case of anti-Muslim discrimination.

"We call on the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI to explain why Mr. Shehadeh was barred from entering the United States and ask that his treatment in detention be reviewed to determine if proper procedures were followed," said Hussam Ayloush, executive director of a chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

"These type of incidents have the potential to further damage our nation's image in Europe and the Muslim world," he added.

Joanne Mulligan believes her husband was subjected to racial profiling, and told a local newspaper, the Bakersfield Californian, that what was supposed to be a relaxing three-week visit turned into a nightmare.

"He has no idea why he was detained. When I went to that detention center, they told me I couldn't see him," said Mulligan, who added that confiscating her husband's medication "was taking a very big risk." Shehadeh finally did see a physician in the cell after experiencing heart palpitations.

Foreigners who are denied entry into the United States are normally required to return to where they came from, with the responsibility and cost of transporting them back borne by the airline or vessel. Since Shehadeh had flown on a chartered German carrier, which does not operate daily, he had to wait several days for the next available flight back.