By ELAINE SILVESTRINI
The Tampa Tribune
Published: January 04, 2012


Youssef Megahed said he is confident he will prevail in efforts to become a U.S. citizen.

TAMPA --

Youssef Megahed is back in court, this time asking a judge to make federal immigration officials decide whether he can be a U.S. citizen.

It has been more than a year since Megahed, who was born in Egypt, was interviewed the second time for his citizenship, and the government has not ruled, even though, legally, authorities have 120 days to make a decision, said Megahed's attorney, Charles Kuck.

Megahed and his friend, Ahmed Mohamed, were arrested Aug. 7, 2007, in South Carolina after deputies said they found suspicious explosive devices in the trunk of their car.

The men, who were students at the University of South Florida, said they were on a road trip exploring the beaches of the South and that the devices were fireworks or homemade motors for model rockets. However, investigators found a video on Mohamed's laptop computer in which he told jihadists how to use a remote-controlled toy truck to detonate a bomb, for use against U.S. troops serving overseas.

Mohamed pleaded guilty to aiding terrorists and is serving a federal prison term.

Megahed was not linked to the video. Authorities unsuccessfully prosecuted him on federal explosives charges for the items in the trunk.

After Megahed was acquitted in the criminal case, he was arrested and put into immigration detention with the intent to deport him. The FBI testified that he was part of a nascent terrorist cell, but an immigration judge ruled that the FBI had no evidence, and freed Megahed.

On the eve of the immigration case, Megahed's family members were sworn in as citizens, and Kuck said Megahed wants to join them.

"I think he's tired of waiting," said Kuck, who filed a lawsuit against Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Homeland Security on Dec. 19. "It plays on you emotionally. It plays on you mentally, even physically… I would be tired of waiting, too."

The lawsuit is the second Megahed has filed. A previous petition sought a court order requiring officials to grant Megahed his citizenship interviews. The case was dropped after an interview was scheduled.

On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Sharon Scheidhauer, said she couldn't discuss Megahed's lawsuit because the agency doesn't comment on pending litigation.

Megahed said he is confident he will prevail, as he won his criminal trial and fought back the government's attempt to deport him.

"I'm optimistic that I'll win again," he said. "I think I should be qualified" for citizenship.

He said the government has failed to rule because of prejudice against his Middle Eastern background and the failed prosecution. "Maybe they can't make up their minds to rule or not to rule," he said.

The government has until mid-February to respond to the legal complaint, Kuck said. Under the law, he added, the federal judge overseeing the case has the authority to grant Megahed's citizenship, and he may ask a judge to do that, depending on the government's response.

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