The comedian says the Border Patrol forced him to get off the Greyhound bus and accused him of being illegal despite his legal papers



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A comedian who obtained permission to live in the United States after obtaining political asylum claims to have been forced to leave a Greyhound bus Sunday by US border officials who refused to believe that he was legally there.

Mohanad Elshieky, originally from Libya, said in a Twitter article that federal agents boarded the bus from Spokane, Washington, to Portland, Oregon. targeted, as well as a few other passengers, asking them to get off the bus to be able to check their immigration status. status.

"They … took my documents and interrogated me for about 20 minutes, then claimed that my papers were falsified and that I am" illegal "," said Elshieky

. Elshieky continued to insist that his documents be legitimate. and even after checking by phone with immigration agents who had told him that the comedian was legally in the country, the agent had always accused him of being illegally in the United States. United.

Finally, after Elsheiky stoo On his land, they gave up the case. They warned him to carry his papers with him, which, says Elsheiky, "means nothing because I was doing it and they said they were fake".

Elsheiky's message was retweeted over 2,000 times and received more than 20,000 "likes". [19659005] Elshieky, who was introduced by comedian Conan O'Brien as a comedian to watch, arrived in the United States on a J-1 visa in 2014.

One of the recipients of his tweet was the representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., who used Elsheiky's account to renew her calls for abolition of immigration and enforcement customs formalities (ICE).

She tweeted, "One of these days, I hope people realize that the idea of ​​removing ICE must be abandoned. So crazy after all. ICE imprisons children in for-profit detention centers funded by private equity firms. Children die with 0 responsibility. If it's not totally broken, I do not know what it is. "

For its part, the US Border Patrol confirmed Elsheiky's account of the incident.The agency said in a statement to the media:" Agents of the US Border Patrol & # 39; s Spokane Station met Sunday at Spokane Intermodal Bus Station a person who was not in possession of the immigration documents required by law. "

" During the transportation check, the agents made contact with Mohanad Elshieky. Mr Elshieky said that he was from Libya presented to the agents an Oregon driver's license and an Employment Authorization Card (EAD), "reads in the statement.

"As for anyone needing to check his immigration status, Mr. Elshieky was asked to get off the bus. After about 20 minutes to check his status, Mr. Elshieky was allowed to board the bus and continue his journey without delay. "

Many Twitter users were targeting Greyhound, which has already attracted fire for some time, checking the immigration of its passengers and serving as a checkpoint for near-immigration.

On its Twitter page, Greyhound said: "We support the current law changes that allow immigration officers to stop and board buses under 100 border. We encourage anyone looking for changes to contact their congressman. "

Various chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have disapproved of Greyhound's attitude.

The ACLU of Vermont described the searches of violation of the right of passengers to the Fourth Amendment. against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Border patrol officials say that federal laws allow them to conduct such searches.

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