The Muslim mayor who was blocked from attending the White House’s annual Eid al-Fitr celebration is questioning why his name is on a federal “watch list,” saying there’s “no reason to believe I’m an unsafe person.”
Mohamed Khairullah, the mayor of Prospect Park, N.J., said at a news conference on Tuesday that the federal government should discontinue its use of the list, which he condemned as discriminatory and unconstitutional. He spoke to reporters after he learned on Monday the Secret Service denied him security clearance at the White House celebration of the holiday that marks the end of the month of Ramadan.
The Secret Service confirmed Khairullah was not allowed into the event, but it said it could not provide additional details about why. Anthony Guglielmi, the chief of communications for the Secret Service, said the agency could not comment further on the “specific protective means and methods used to conduct our security operations at the White House.”
Khairullah said on Tuesday he has not been told why he was denied clearance for the event.
“I’m not upset about not being at the White House. I’m about human rights. I have a platform to address this issue, but about 1.5 million others don’t,” Khairullah said, adding that this type of situation “makes me question the progress I thought we had made.”
The news conference was organized by the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Khairullah and other speakers said the Secret Service and other agencies should stop using the list, which the group said includes more than 1.5 million names, most of which are “Arab or Muslim sounding.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre deferred comment on the issue to the Secret Service during a press briefing on Tuesday, saying it is under the agency’s purview.
“What I will say more broadly is that — and I can say this; I was in the room — the president was very proud to welcome nearly 400 Muslim Americans to the White House to celebrate Eid yesterday. It was a meaningful event and opportunity to celebrate along Muslim leaders from across the country who were here — as I said, nearly 400,” she said.
“This particular situation is under the purview of Secret Service, and so I will leave it to them to speak to directly,” she continued.
New Jersey Sens. Bob Menendez (D) and Cory Booker (D) and New Jersey Rep. Bill Pascrell (D), who represents the district where Khairullah lives, formally asked the Secret Service for an explanation.
“We also urge you to provide Mayor Khairullah with the substantive reasons he was denied admission, and urge you to initiate a review of Mayor Khairullah’s status so that in the future he may be able to attend events and represent his constituents at the People’s House,” they said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.