An Egyptian flight-school student facing deportation from the United States for posting a threat against GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump will leave the country voluntarily within the next 120 days.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the U.S. Immigration Court in downtown Los Angeles granted Emad Elsayed voluntary departure on Friday. Elsayed will exit the United States while being escorted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Elsayed’s attorney, Hani Bushra, asked the judge to grant bond, but was denied. He will return to Cairo.
“He made a mistake he regrets,” Bushra told The Times. “He will regret it for a long, long time.”
On Feb. 12, Elsayed was taken into custody for “violating the terms of his admission.”
On Feb. 3, Elsayed posted an article on Facebook that talked about Trump banning all Muslims from entering the United States. The Times reported that Elsayed added his own comment, in which he said, paraphrasing from the paper, that “he would not mind being sentenced to life in prison for killing Trump and that if he did so he would be doing the world a favor.”
According to Bushra, U.S. Secret Service agents came to the flight academy, Universal Air Academy in El Monte, after its owner reported Elsayed’s comment to authorities.
“The U.S attorney declined to charge him criminally, so they chose to pursue immigration action,” Bushra said. Elsayed’s student visa was revoked, and without the support of an educational institution, a student’s visa status is in jeopardy.
The government said Elsayed’s statement was “evidence that he is a danger to society and should not be released.” He is being held in an Orange County jail pending his hearing.