United States Secret Service and White House officials aren’t saying why the Muslim mayor of Prospect Park, New Jersey, was not permitted onto the White House grounds for an event with President Joe Biden on Monday.
Mohamed Khairullah, a Democrat who has served as the New Jersey town’s mayor for nearly two decades, was on his way to the White House for a reception marking Eid al-Fitr, the traditional holiday which marks the end of sunrise-to-sunset fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.
Mr Khairullah was set to attend the annual event as a guest of the Biden administration and was en route to the White House when he was notified that he would not be granted entry by Secret Service, which controls access to the 18-acre White House complex.
He told NBC News that he was “baffled” by the decision and did not know why he had not been denied the clearance to enter. Visitors to the complex must undergo a routine background check by having their names submitted into the Secret Service’s Worker and Visitor Entry System, commonly referred to as Waves.
The automated background check is thought to screen out visitors with criminal records and those whose names may be on certain watch lists, though some individuals whose names are flagged may still be permitted to enter alongside a White House staff escort.
Mr Khairullah, who was born in Syria, also told NBC he believes his name is erroneously on a government watch list, and said he has had problems travelling in the past. He has never been afforded an explanation or an opportunity to remedy the situation.
“I cannot clear my name. Previously they said we can’t deny nor confirm you’re on a list, and if there is such a list there is no way of telling us how to clear my name,” he said. “It’s a Catch-22.”
In a statement on Monday night, Mr Khairullah said the incident “reeks of Islamophobia by certain federal agencies”. That remark came as he shared a condemnation by the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NJ).
The White House declined to comment when asked why the longtime elected official wasn’t permitted to attend the event and referred questions to the Secret Service.
Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesperson for the agency, said he was not able to discuss the reasons for the denial.
“While we regret any inconvenience this may have caused, the mayor was not allowed to enter the White House complex for last night’s event,” he said. “Unfortunately we are not able to comment further on the specific protective means and methods used to conduct our security operations at the White House”.
