U.S. customs implied Emad Burnat exaggerated his detaining duration

U.S. customs said the Palestinian filmmaker Emad Burnat exaggerated the duration and situation when he was detained at LAX.

The 5 Broken Cameras director said he, his wife, and his 8-year-old son were detained in an isolated room for approximately 90 minutes, and threatened to be deported, upon his arrival at LAX to attend the Academy Award ceremony, as reported by Hit Fix.

The U.S. customs, on the other hand, insisted that that was not true, as reported by TMZ.

They said that Burnat was embellishing the story. He and his family were just detained for approximately 25 minutes, and only sent to a secondary screening area to answer simple questions.

When asked for a response about the U.S. customs' statement, Burnat opposed it.

He released a statement regarding the issue.

"Last night, on my way from Turkey to Los Angeles, CA, my family and I were held at US immigration for about an hour and questioned about the purpose of my visit to the United States. Immigration officials asked for proof that I was nominated for an Academy Award® for the documentary 5 BROKEN CAMERAS and they told me that if I couldn't prove the reason for my visit, my wife Soraya, my son Gibreel and I would be sent back to Turkey on the same day.

After 40 minutes of questions and answers, Gibreel asked me why we were still waiting in that small room. I simply told him the truth: 'Maybe we'll have to go back.' I could see his heart sink.

Although this was an unpleasant experience, this is a daily occurrence for Palestinians, every single day, throughout [t]he West Bank. There are more than 500 Israeli checkpoints, roadblocks, and other barriers to movement across our land, and not a single one of us has been spared the experience that my family and I experienced yesterday. Ours was a very minor example of what my people face every day."