SHERBROOKE, Que. — A Quebec student athlete says he was denied entry to the United States after he was asked about religion and his Moroccan roots.
Yassine Aber, a track and field athlete with the Universite de Sherbrooke, has told various media outlets he was questioned for more than five hours on Thursday at the Stanstead crossing on the Quebec-Vermont border.
Aber, 19, told Montreal radio station 98.5 FM the interrogation included questions on whether he attended a mosque and how often he visited Morocco.
He told the station he was born and raised in Canada and that his parents have lived in the country for 25 years.
He says he was the only one in the group of 20 students who was not allowed to continue to a competition in Boston.
Aber says he doesn't know why he was turned back and has travelled to the United States many times before without incident.