A Moroccan national was arrested on Monday for planning to bomb a U.S. university and federal building. On the basis of multiple conversations recorded by the FBI, it was learned that the man had sought to avoid deportation by means of deliberate fraud and falsified claims of persecution in his home country.
El Mehdi Semlali Fahti, 26, entered the United States legally on a student visa six years ago. Fahti had been planning to use a remote-controlled airplane to deliver the bomb and stated, according to an affidavit, that “the bomb that he planned to use would be made for him and he claimed that everything is available in Southern California on the border.”
But he could not be deported and was released, according to Special Agent Anabela Sharp in an affidavit, because Fahti was granted a “withholding of removal of relief” order “on or about August 16, 2013 based on his claim of fear of persecution based on asylum.”
That order precluded the United States from deporting him back to Morroco, and Special Agent Sharp testified that there is probable cause to believe that his application for deportation relief was based on fraud. For instance, even though Fahti claimed in his application that he would be persecuted based on political opinion if deported back to Morocco, he was never arrested in his home country for his political beliefs, which is something his father also confirmed.
In fact, Fahti admitted to an undercover agent that he made up his story to game the system.
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