Free Republic

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - An Egyptian man who served as an imam at an Orange County mosque was arrested on immigration violations, federal officials said Friday. Wagdy Mohamed Ghoneim was arrested Thursday morning at his home in Anaheim, said Lori Haley, spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He was held without bail at a federal detention facility pending an immigration court hearing next week. Ghoneim worked as an imam at the Islamic Institute of Orange County in Anaheim, Haley said. She described the pending charges against him as "administrative" but did not elaborate. A call to his defense attorney,...

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - An Orange County mosque leader from Egypt who authorities said had given speeches that could be considered supportive of terrorist organizations agreed Tuesday to leave the United States voluntarily, giving up his fight to remain in the country. As part of the agreement with government attorneys, Wagdy Ghoneim avoids deportation in exchange for admitting he was in the United States in violation of his immigration status, said Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement. He must leave the United States by Jan. 7. By agreeing to voluntary removal, Ghoneim, the imam at the Islamic...

FBI agents yesterday raided the suburban Detroit headquarters of LIFE for Relief and Development (LRD), the largest Islamic charity in the country. I first wrote about the group for The Post in 2003. Back then, FBI Director Robert Mueller was set to give an award to Imad Hamad, who heads the Midwest chapter of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). But, after my Post article pointed out that Hamad was a subject in over a dozen terrorism-related investigations, the FBI revoked the award. One of those investigations concerned Hamad's close ties to LRD. Both the FBI and the then-U.S. Customs...