Homeland Security Seeks to Deport Christian 'Son of Hamas'
The disowned son of one of the founders of terrorist group Hamas has grown quite a fan base since he revealed who he was and made public his story of conversion from Islam to Christianity.
But the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is apparently not among Mosab Hassan Yousef's admirers as it's currently seeking to deport the 32-year-old asylum seeker, who currently resides in San Diego.
"[A]ccording to these 'highly trained' civil servants, I am a threat to America's national security and must be deported," reported Yousef this past week.
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In a lengthy account of his situation, Yousef explained in his personal weblog how he has been barred from a grant of asylum since last year "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."
In court documents Yousef recently received, Homeland Security senior attorney Kerri Calcador highlighted Yousef's extensive involvement with Hamas and the support he gave to the Tier I terrorist organization.
While Yousef admits openly to the integral role he played in Hamas, he argues the account of his conversion in his recently released book, Son of Hamas, should make perfectly clear that he is now an asset, not a threat.
In the book, Yousef shares how he came to question who his enemies really were after he discovered that Hamas was torturing its own people in a relentless search for collaborators.
After a chance encounter with a British missionary in 1999, Yousef started the six-year quest that would lead to embrace of Jesus Christ and his departure from his family, friends and homeland.
During that time, Yousef served as a spy for the Israeli security agency Shin Bet, to which he passed on all the information he gathered in terrorist meetings with then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, his father and other Hamas leaders.
"I … saved the lives of many people-including many Americans," an obviously upset Yousef emphasized.
"Maybe Homeland Security only read a few chapters of my book."
According to Yousef, the FBI has advised Homeland Security to drop the case against him, telling them that Yousef is not a threat.
"But Homeland Security shut its eyes and stopped up its ears and told the FBI, 'You have nothing to do with this. It is our job,'" Yousef claimed.
As a result, Yousef will stand before Immigration Judge Rico J. Bartolomei at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Immigration Court in San Diego on June 30.
With about a month before the court date, Yousef is encouraging those in the San Diego area to attend the 8 a.m. hearing and "see for yourself Homeland Security in action."
He is also encouraging supporters to write letters to Homeland Security senior attorney Kerri Calcador – not simply to write on his behalf but to help the department to make what he feels are imperative changes.
"I believe that God is using this situation to expose the weaknesses of Homeland Security and to put pressure on it to make changes that can save lives and preserve freedom," said Yousef.
Notably, Yousef arrived in America on a tourist visa without any problem on Jan. 2, 2007. It wasn't until seven months later that he personally went to the Homeland Security office to inform them of his past role in Hamas and his intent to seek political asylum.
"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," he reported.
Before concluding, Yousef claimed that "Homeland Security has been embarrassed.
"They want me out. They don't want to change," he wrote. "But there are too many lives at stake to worry about the personal sensitivities of the civil servants at Homeland Security."
Presently, Yousef is residing in San Diego, where he works as a security guard at a grocery store and attends a Baptist church that knows him by his English name – Joseph.
He was the oldest of six brothers and two sisters.
