 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 ...Source: IPT News
 CNN ran a report Monday about Youssef Megahed, the Egyptian resident alien and former University of South Florida student (where convicted terror supporter Sami Al-Arian was once a professor and the current leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Ramadan Shallah, also taught). Megahed was acquitted in U.S. District Court in Tampa of federal explosives charges stemming from an ill-fated road trip to South Carolina with an associate who pled guilty to providing material support to terrorists. After Megahed's acquittal, the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Tampa took Megahed into custody and charged him with removal (deportation) violations, ostensibly on terrorism/security related violations that are believed to rely on evidence related to his criminal case, even though he was not convicted.
As reported by the IPT in April and again in June, Megahed's supporters and apologists argue Megahed is being treated unfairly. Some even claim the immigration case amounts to double jeopardy. The law, however, is clear. Deportation proceedings are civil/administrative in nature, not criminal, and foreign nationals (aliens) in the United States may be subject to removal based on a lesser standard of evidence than "beyond a reasonable doubt" in criminal cases, even if the evidence is very similar.
There is no double jeopardy. This process is not used by the government frequently and a decision to proceed requires significant review by high-ranking officials within DHS, sometimes in consultation with the Department of Justice.
Today's CNN article contained 55 paragraphs. Of those, only five reflected the U.S. Government's position in the case. The rest of the article describe Megahed's "plight" and how the former foreman of Megahed's criminal case jury traveled to the Florida detention center to personally visit with Megahed and his family.
The network report did identify a few facts that are worth noting, including that a government search of a computer found at Megahed's residence found "numerous videos, documents and an internet search history that supports Islamic extremism, jihad against the United States..." Also, CNN quotes a former Miami U.S. Attorney as saying, "The government doesn't use this a lot, but I think this is an arrow in the quiver that needs to stay because there are those cases where the government needs to do everything in its power to keep us safe, from some of those same individuals." Also, Guy Lewis states, "In one context, the real question is, are you going to jail for a long time. The other context is, are you going to get to live among us?"
The other 50 paragraphs clearly side with Megahed. Source: IPT BlogCNN
Latest recipient of the Yellow Rag Award
 By Bill West Youssef Megahed, a 23-year-old former student at the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa, last week was acquitted of federal explosives and related charges in U.S. District Court in Tampa. Those charges stemmed from Megahed traveling with a fellow Egyptian USF student in South Carolina in August 2007 with explosive material found in the trunk after a stop by local deputies. His confederate, Ahmed Mohamed, pled guilty to providing material support to terrorists after investigators discovered a how-to video on his computer showing wanna-be jihadis how to build remote control bombs out of simple toys so they might live to fight another day. Jurors weren't convinced Megahed was in on Mohamed's plan. Megahed's freedom was short-lived, however. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested him Monday in Tampa. He faces removal (deportation) proceedings, reportedly based on similar charges to his criminal case. Megahed's supporters have decried his most recent arrest, claiming it is unfair and akin to double jeopardy since he was just cleared by the federal jury in his criminal trial. Such a stance might be expected by his supporters, but it displays ignorance of U.S. immigration laws and procedures. Megahed is reported to be a legal permanent resident alien residing in the United States. That means he is not a U.S. citizen. As such, he is subject to removal provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Those provisions are not criminal in nature, but are administrative/civil violations. Removal charges can be based on criminal activity, activity contrary to national security and public safety, and some of those legal sections do not require conviction. Read more ...Source: IPT News
 On June 13 th, Egyptian national and former University of South Florida graduate student Ahmed Mohamed agreed to plead guilty to terrorism charges and is facing a maximum of 15 years in prison. Mohamed, along with fellow student Youssef Megahed, was stopped by police in South Carolina last August. Police found in their possession explosives and a laptop which hosted an instructional video for terrorists. An analysis of the laptop shows that the 12-minute video, which showed how to use remote control toys to detonate explosives, had been uploaded to YouTube in July 2007 and viewed hundreds of times. Then CAIR-Tampa spokesman Ahmed Bedier defended Mohamed and Megahed. Read more ...Source: IPT News
 Bedier looks on approvingly as Jassim Aldeen of the USF MSA (a Muslim Brotherhood group) speaks about the Mohamed/Megahed case -- Aldeen played the race card too. Ahmed Mohamed is the Florida former student who has agreed to plead guilty to aiding jihad terrorists: "Mohamed To Admit Terrorism Support," by Elaine Silvestrini for The Tampa Tribune, June 14: TAMPA - A former University of South Florida student has agreed to plead guilty to a charge he provided support to terrorists when he posted an Internet video showing how to detonate a bomb with a remote-controlled toy, according to a plea agreement entered in the case Friday. From the beginning of this case, when Mohamed and his driving buddy Youseff Megahed were arrested in Goose Creek, South Carolina, with what was alleged to be explosive material in the trunk of their car, Ahmed Bedier, then of CAIR, was right on the case. Bedier is the character who has passed up opportunities to condemn stoning and who has said that there was "nothing immoral" about being part of Palestinian Islamic Jihad until it was designated a terrorist group. In "2 Florida students charged in explosives scare face $800,000 bond," by Noah Haglund, Dave Munday, and Andy Paras in the Charleston Post and Courier, August 5, 2007, Bedier was acting as the spokesman for both men, and downplaying the charges. Read more ...Source: Jihad Watch
  Remember the hissy fit CAIR had over the arrest of these Islamokillers? CAIR's "good and naive kids" had a mysterious liquid inside the trunk along with their pipe bombs (or as CAIR likes to call them "July 4th fireworks.") Well one of them copped a plea. Read more ...Source: Atlas
Naive Kids Update: it seems that the arresting officer in South Carolina, who found pipe bomb materials in the trunk of the car being driven by Ahmed Mohamed and Youseff Megahed, said, "Damn terrorist. I think they're part of the **** Taliban....Maybe they're gonna practice the suicide bombing here." He also evidently noted their race as "Islamic," which should endear him to the politically correct crowd that continues to insist that opposition to the global jihad constitutes racism, but in this case it has gotten him in hot water, because -- as the newscaster says, in probably the first time this has been acknowledged in the mainstream media -- "of course we all know that's not a race, that's a religion." Read more ...Source: Jihad Watch
TAMPA, Fla. -- A federal prosecutor disputes defense claims that two Egyptian college students arrested near a South Carolina Navy weapons station were carrying harmless fireworks and not dangerous explosives. An attorney for Youssef Samir Megahed filed a motion last week asking a judge to reconsider granting bail. He cited an FBI report that characterized the items found in the trunk of the car as a pyrotechnic mixture that burned but didn't explode when tested. But federal prosecutor Jay Hoffer, in a motion filed Monday opposing bond for Megahed, said defense attorney Adam Allen "mischaracterized" the FBI report in describing the items in the trunk as harmless. Hoffer said the items including PVC pipe containing a mixture of sugar and potassium nitrate and capped with cat litter meet the federal legal definition of explosives. FBI analysts determined that the mixture could explode if it was packed more tightly in the pipe and capped, Hoffer wrote. Read more ...Source: AP
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