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UPDATE 1: 10:50am ET: Joel Cheatwood, President & Chief Creative Officer for TheBlaze, told Glenn on the radio show: “Just got a note from one of our investigative reporters that she has been told that there is now discussion that they may not allow this man to be deported.”
UPDATE 2: Rep. Jeff Duncan had a tense exchange with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano Thursday morning after Duncan raised questions about the Saudi ‘person of interest’ and reports he may be deported. Napolitano became defensive and said “I’m not going to answer that question” instead of simply providing an explanation. More on TheBlaze.
Update 3 4:26pm ET: A senior law enforcement official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told TheBlaze Thursday that reports claiming the department was deporting Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi under section 212 3B (“security and related grounds”) and had opened an “event” (or file) on the Saudi Arabian national following the Boston attacks is “categorically false.”
The official also told TheBlaze that Alharbi was never in custody nor ever considered for deportation by ICE, but that the department does have a different Saudi national in custody being held on grounds unrelated to the Boston bombings.
Original Story:
On radio this morning, Glenn broke the news that Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi, the Saudi Student who was reported as a person of interest in the Boston Marathon bombing, is set to be deported under section 212 3B of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) – “Security and related grounds” – “Terrorist activities”.
An FBI source has told TheBlaze that the Saudi Student was “taken into custody”. This means, when we he was reported as a person of interest, he was actually a suspect the entire time.
An “event”, or file, was created on the student three days ago. The file contains his deportation record and the reason he is being deported. According to ICE the reason is section 212 3B -”Security and related grounds” – “Terrorist activities”. The student’s visa has been revoked.
The FBI said a file was started “just in case he was found to be connected to the crime,” however, the file shows he was scheduled to be deported. This was not precautionary, it was listed as “orders.” The file was immediately classified. Sources are telling TheBlaze the deportation order will be classified as well – requiring a FOIA to access it.
One agent told TheBlaze he believes a “voluntary” departure has been signed – that means the Saudi student could be out of the country as early as today. While the official story was going to be “he wanted to go home,” the student was actually being deported.
TheBlaze has been told that by a source that this “looks like they were trying to make this a ‘lone wolf’ crime, so the Saudi government would be spared embarrassment and the U.S. would avoid explaining how a terror cell was active when we had AQ on the run.”
One source at the FBI and another at the Saudi Embassy referred to the student as connected to an important Saudi family.
A source told TheBlaze that the FBI believes the Saudi student is tied to 2 to 3 more people.
Steve Emerson from the Investigative Project on Terrorism appeared on “Hannity” last night and revealed more information on the Saudi National.
From TheBlaze:
Appearing on “Hannity” Wednesday night, the Investigative Project on Terrorism’s Steve Emerson reported that Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi, the Saudi national who was briefly named a “person of interest” in the Boston Marathon bombings, is being deported on Tuesday. He based his information on a number of his confidential sources.
“I just learned from my own sources that he is now going to be deported on national security grounds next Tuesday,” Emerson said.
Host Sean Hannity referenced a report by Reuters that revealed President Barack Obama met with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal at the White House Wednesday. They reportedly discussed the conflict in Syria.
“The meeting was not on Obama’s public schedule,” the report adds.
