Egyptian Student Who ‘Threatened Trump’ on Facebook to Be Deported

A California court has ordered that a 23-year-old Egyptian student, who allegedly threatened Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Facebook, be deported.

Emad El-Din Ali Mohamed Nasr El Sayed was arrested on the morning of 12 February 2016 for posting what authorities claimed was a death threat against Trump.

“I am willing to kill Donald Trump and serve a life sentence,” wrote El Sayed on Facebook, according to his lawyer. “[T]he whole world would thank me for doing that.”

However, charges against El Sayed for threatening Trump were quickly dropped by the authorities. Instead, his visa was revoked and he was taken to court for being in the United States without permission.

In a hearing on March 1 before the Immigration Court in Los Angeles, Judge Riley was presented evidence by the prosecution that El Sayed’s enrollment at his school has been terminated and so he should be deported.

The judge, despite evidence introduced that the Universal Air Academy (UAA) would be willing to re-enroll El Sayed, ruled that since the student does not have any valid immigration status then he should be removed from the country unless the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services reinstates his visa.

According to Hani S. Bushra, the lawyer representing El Sayed, the UAA had been pressured by authorities to terminate El Sayed’s enrollment.

“This is an extraordinary step taken by the U.S. government to pressure a school owner to terminate the attendance of someone at a school,” said Bushra in statements to Egyptian Streets.

“Emad never missed a single academic requirement while he was enrolled in the school.”

After the judge declared that El Sayed should be “removed from the country”, defense attorneys asked for a bond hearing to request El Sayed’s release before deportation.

However, the prosecution introduced the Facebook post in which El Sayed allegedly threatened Donald Trump and argued that El Sayed was a “danger to the community.” Despite El Sayed’s public apology in court for the Facebook post, the judge agreed that El Sayed is a danger to the community and denied bond.

“It is unfortunate that the immigration judge did not see that Emad’s placement in removal proceedings came after law enforcement failed to file and sustain criminal charges against Emad, and therefore resorted to punishing him in different way,” said Bushra following the hearing in statements to Egyptian Streets.

Another hearing will be held on March 4 to determine other ways to secure El Sayed’s release and to allow him to get his affairs in order before leaving the United States.

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