Mohamed Farah of Great Britain reacts after winning the gold medal in the Men's 5000 meter Final at Olympic Stadium at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on August 20, 2016. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI |
License Photo
Four-time Olympic gold medalist Mo Farah strongly criticized President Donald Trump's temporary travel ban against seven Muslim-majority countries on Sunday, saying Trump's executive order "seems to have made me an alien."
The 33-year-old track star was born in Somalia but is now a British citizen who lives in America. Farah is currently training in Ethiopia but resides in Portland, Ore., with his wife and four children and he remains unsure if he will be allowed to return to his home
"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," Farah wrote on Facebook. "Now, me and many others like me are being told that we may not be welcome.
"It's deeply troubling that I will have to tell my children that Daddy might not be able to come home -- to explain why the President has introduced a policy that comes from a place of ignorance and prejudice."
Farah owns a British passport but it is his birthplace of Somalia that may present a problem. It is one of the seven nations that falls under Trump's executive order.
Farah's representatives are trying to gain answers from authorities. The distance champ hasn't yet set a date to return home and he and his wife, Tania, are trying to assess the impact of the situation.
Farah moved from Somalia to Britain at age 8. He won the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and repeated the feat at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.
On Jan. 1, Farah received the English honor of knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II.
He is at a loss how he can be honored by one country and shunned by another in the same month.
"I was welcomed into Britain from Somalia at eight years old and given the chance to succeed and realise my dreams," Farah wrote. "I have been proud to represent my country, win medals for the British people and receive the greatest honour of a knighthood. My story is an example of what can happen when you follow polices of compassion and understanding, not hate and isolation."
Trump's ban hit a temporary roadblock on Saturday night when a federal judge granted an emergency stay for people already in the United States who hold valid visas, ruling they can legally enter the country.
