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Egyptian Student Faces Deportation After Writing On Facebook He'd Kill Trump
Donald Trump on the campaign trail in South Carolina. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
An Egyptian student is now facing deportation after writing on Facebook that he would kill Donald Trump.Last month, 23-year-old Emadeldin Elsayed was arrested by immigration authorities at the El Monte flight school he was attending. Elsayed has not been charged with a crime, but his attorney says that officials are now trying to deport him. "It seems like the government was not able to get a criminal charge to stick on him, so they used the immigration process to have him leave the country," attorney Hani Bushra told the AP. "The rhetoric is particularly high in this election, and I just feel he got caught up in the middle."
In early February, Elsayed was interviewed by Secret Service agents after posting a photo of Donald Trump on Facebook and writing that he was willing to serve a life sentence for killing the leading GOP candidate and that the world would be thankful. Just over a week later he had his visa revoked and was arrested. Elsayed says he was angered by Trump's hateful rhetoric about Muslims, but ultimately meant no harm by the post.
"It's just a stupid post. You can find thousands of these every hour on Facebook and the media," he told the AP in a phone interview from the jail he's being held at in Orange. "I don't know why would they think I am a threat to the national security of the United States just because of a stupid post."
In a statement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said that Elsayed violated "the terms of his admission to the United States."
Elsayed said he was attending the Universal Air Academy in El Monte so he could work for an airline back in Egypt. Alex Khatib, owner of the flight school, said that Elsayed "seemed like a good guy" and would take him back as a student if he could.
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