In late May, Mosab Hassan Yousef, author of best seller “Son of Hamas” about his life as an informant inside Israel and his life-changing decision to follow Christ, posted on his personal blog that US Homeland Security wants to kick him out of the US for his past ties to Hamas.
He writes:
I have worn many hats in 32 years—Muslim, Christian, son of Hamas, Prisoner 823, spy, traitor, USAID administrator, businessman, best-selling author. Now I am Homeland Security File# A 088 271 051. And, according to these “highly trained” civil servants, I am a threat to America’s national security and must be deported. On June 30, at 8 a.m., I have a hearing before Immigration Judge Rico J. Bartolomei at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Immigration Court in San Diego. But I am not worried about this. I am outraged! My only concern is about a security system that is so primitive and naive that it endangers the lives of countless Americans. Honestly, Judge Bartolomei’s verdict really does not matter. If he rules to deport me, I will appeal. And Homeland Security has assured me that, if he rules in my favor, they will appeal. And this insane merry-go-round can go on like that for decades.
I interviewed Mosab some weeks ago and and edited version of this interview is in the June issue of CT and posted online today. As an American, I suppose what is most shocking about Mosab’s situation right now is that he’s the one that made first contact with Homeland Security!
He notes in his blog:
It began when I arrived in America January 2, 2007. I walked into the airport like anyone else on a tourist visa. Seven months later, I went to the Homeland Security office, knocked on their door and told them, “Hey, guys, I am the son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, my father is involved in a terrorist organization, and I would like political asylum in your country.” They were shocked. They didn’t expect it. I told them, hey, you didn’t discover me. You didn’t catch me. I came to you and told you who I am to wake you up. I wanted them to see that they have huge gaps in their security and their understanding of terrorism and make changes before it’s too late. I filed an application for political asylum. Not surprisingly, on February 23, 2009, they told me that I was “barred from a grant of asylum because there were reasonable grounds for believing [I] was a danger to the security of the United States and because [I] engaged in terrorist activity.”
What is additionally suprising is that so far very few within the community of Christian leaders have come forward in recent days to vouch for Mosab or pledge their support in his fight against deportation.
In the meantime, CT is following another tragic deportation case involving a former Muslim who gave his life to Christ.
A Kenyan who graduated from a Michigan college and wrote a book about his conversion to Christianity has lost his bid to remain in the U.S. A federal appeals court today refused to overturn a decision to send Hussein Wario back to Kenya. Wario fears he will be persecuted because of his conversion from Islam. But the appeals court says Kenya mostly is a Christian country and Wario can live there while avoiding his hometown, the Tana River District. The 35-year-old Wario entered the United States to attend Hope College in Holland in western Michigan. He graduated in 2000 and wrote a book last year, titled “Cracks in the Crescent,” about his conversion to Christianity.
If you are not scratching your head yet, President Obama’s aunt was just recently granted political asylum after a judge reversed his ruling to deport her. You can read about this mysterious ruling here. Amazing.
