By Dan Vara
Youssef Megahed, a permanent resident alien of the United States, was in immigration court in Miami last week. According to published reports, Megahed faced deportation based on terrorism charges stemming from his much publicized arrest in South Carolina in 2007 along with his friend Ahmed Mohamed.
After a five-day hearing before Immigration Judge Kenneth Hurewitz, however, the deportation case against Mr. Megahed was terminated because Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) failed to prove its case.
The question the American public should be asking is "Why?"
I don't know if Mr. Megahed is a really a terrorist. I don't know if, given the chance, he would have or will engage in conduct to harm the United States. But what I do know as a former federal immigration prosecutor is that even the publicly available information evidences that this case appears to have involved what could be characterized as a textbook case of terrorists in the making.
In fact, and on many levels, this case reminds me very much of the Imran Mandhai case in Miami that I was involved in a few years ago.
Both involved a group of young men who, on the surface, seemed to be law abiding residents of this country. Both, however, also involved young men who for a variety of reasons but for the specific reason that they disagree with the policies of this country in relation to the situation in the Middle East, made a decision to proceed into activities that, left unchecked, could have resulted in a lot of Americans being very unpleasantly affected. Read more ...
Youssef Megahed, a permanent resident alien of the United States, was in immigration court in Miami last week. According to published reports, Megahed faced deportation based on terrorism charges stemming from his much publicized arrest in South Carolina in 2007 along with his friend Ahmed Mohamed.
After a five-day hearing before Immigration Judge Kenneth Hurewitz, however, the deportation case against Mr. Megahed was terminated because Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) failed to prove its case.
The question the American public should be asking is "Why?"
I don't know if Mr. Megahed is a really a terrorist. I don't know if, given the chance, he would have or will engage in conduct to harm the United States. But what I do know as a former federal immigration prosecutor is that even the publicly available information evidences that this case appears to have involved what could be characterized as a textbook case of terrorists in the making.
In fact, and on many levels, this case reminds me very much of the Imran Mandhai case in Miami that I was involved in a few years ago.
Both involved a group of young men who, on the surface, seemed to be law abiding residents of this country. Both, however, also involved young men who for a variety of reasons but for the specific reason that they disagree with the policies of this country in relation to the situation in the Middle East, made a decision to proceed into activities that, left unchecked, could have resulted in a lot of Americans being very unpleasantly affected. Read more ...
Source: IPT News
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