Sikh actor barred from boarding plane in Mexico

A Sikh-American actor and designer has been barred from boarding a flight from Mexico City to New York after he refused to remove his turban during a security check.

Waris Ahluwalia, 41, based in Manhattan, said he checked in at the Aeromexico airline’s counter at Mexico City’s international airport about 5:30 am on Monday and was given his first-class boarding pass with code ‘SSSS’ that he said meant that he needed secondary security screening.

“This morning in Mexico City I was told I could not board my @aeromexico flight to NYC because of my turban,” Ahluwalia, who appeared in the Oscar-nominated film ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ and the US television series ‘The Carrie Diaries’, wrote on his Instagram account, uploading a photo of himself holding up his now-useless Aeromexico plane ticket.

When Ahluwalia showed up at the gate to board Flight 408 to New York City, attendants told him he needed to step aside and wait for other passengers to board.

His feet and bag were searched and swabbed. He was told to remove his sweatshirt and was patted down, New York Times reported.

Then, he said, he was asked to take off his turban.

“I responded...that I won’t be taking off my turban,” he said in an interview from the airport in Mexico City.

“And then they talked amongst themselves and they said, ‘OK, then you are not getting on the flight.’” 

He said he was told by another airline security official that he would not be boarding any other Aeromexico flight until he met their security demands.

“It is a symbol of my faith,” Ahluwalia said, explaining why he would not remove the turban. “It is something that I wear whenever I am in public.”