Farah criticises Trump’s US travel ban
Britain’s four-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Mo Farah has criticised US President Donald Trump for imposing an order that leaves him unsure whether he can return to the United States.
Farah, 33, was born in Somalia but has lived in Oregon for the past six years.
Somali nationals are among those banned from travelling to the US under the executive order issued on Friday.
“It’s deeply troubling that I will have to tell my children daddy might not be able to come home,” said Farah.
Writing on his Facebook page, he added: “On 1 January this year, Her Majesty The Queen made me a Knight of the Realm. On 27 January, President Donald Trump seems to have made me an alien.”
Farah said he believed Trump’s policy “comes from a place of ignorance and prejudice” and his story is “an example of what can happen when you follow polices of compassion and understanding, not hate and isolation”.
It is unclear whether Farah, who moved to Britain aged eight, will be able to return to the US.
Trump’s executive order halted the entire US refugee programme and also instituted a 90-day travel ban for nationals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
The executive order also applies to those who hold dual nationality with one of the listed countries.
On Saturday, a US judge issued a temporary halt to the deportation of visa holders or refugees stranded at airports.
Farah does not have dual nationality or hold a Somali passport and it is understood his advisers are trying to clarify the situation with the US authorities.
The athlete is at a training camp in Ethiopia as part of his preparations for August’s World Championships in London, and is not planning to return to the US for a number of weeks.
He said: “I am a British citizen who has lived in America for the past six years - working hard, contributing to society, paying my taxes and bringing up our four children in the place they now call home.
“Now me, and many others like me, are being told that we may not be welcome.”