The End of a Nightmare: Youssef Megahed Acquitted
| WRMEA Archives 2006-2010 - 2010 January-February |
Special Report, Page 25
The End of a Nightmare: Youssef Megahed Acquitted
By Melva Underbakke
YOUSSEF MEGAHED made history on Aug. 21, 2009, when he walked out of the Krome Detention Center in Miami, FL a free man. The event marked the first time in U.S. history that someone was acquitted by both a federal court and a U.S. Immigration court. In all previous cases, the accused were deported even after they had been found innocent. Defense attorney Charles Kuck said that he was “not aware of any other case in which the government has sought removal in this situation and the foreign national has been allowed to stay.”
Youssef’s story began at the University of South Florida, where he was about to begin his final semester before completing a bachelor’s degree in engineering. He and another student, an Egyptian national, took an end-of-summer road trip to South Carolina.
While there, they were stopped for speeding. Suspicious police searched the car and found what some called home-made fireworks. One thing led to another, FBI agents were called in, and soon both young men were arrested for transporting explosives (read “terrorism”) across a state line.
The arrest took place on Aug. 4, 2007. Youssef and his friend were returned to Tampa, FL and placed in solitary confinement to await separate trials.
On May 5, 2008, after nine months of solitary confinement, Youssef was released on bail. His case went before a jury of his peers and he was acquitted on April 3, 2009 by jurors who agreed that he had not broken any laws. Three days later, however, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents swooped down on Youssef in a Wal-Mart parking lot to re-arrest him and hold him for deportation.
Youssef was taken to Krome Detention Center in Miami, where he spent another four and a half months in the custody of the U.S. government. His situation garnered international attention. The jurors, whose judgments were ignored by ICE, were outraged. Because of excellent media coverage, the public was outraged as well.
Ironically, Youssef’s immigration hearing began three days after most of his family became naturalized U.S. citizens—on Aug. 3, 2009. It was a replay of the same charges of which he had been acquitted by the jury. In addition to his family, members of the Tampa-based group Friends of Human Rights attended the hearing.
Most of the evidence against Youssef came from his computer. Government lawyers presented his Internet history in great detail, causing Immigration Judge Kenneth Hurewitz to comment, “I could be here for 20 years if I look at every single page.”
Arguing that the government had not proven its case, defense attorney Kuck did not present any evidence. “You don’t kick permanent residents out of the United States because you don’t like the Web sites they visited,” he argued.
Judge Hurewitz agreed with him—and with the original jury verdict of “not guilty.” On Aug. 7, he made the courageous decision to dismiss the case. Once again, Youssef walked out of a federal detention facility a free man. A few days later, he was re-admitted to the University of South Florida to complete his degree.
Samir Megahed, Yousef’s father, said, “I feel it’s a nightmare and now we woke up.”
Is the nation waking up as well?
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