ICE arrests Egyptian illegal immigrant released on bond by Biden admin despite sex abuse charge

Yasser Salama, who entered the United States in July 2017 on a non-immigrant visa, was arrested by ICE on August 19. In 2019, he was charged with first-degree felony sexual abuse in Alabama and was later released on immigration bond. That same year, the State Department terminated his visa for violating the University of Alabama Code of Conduct.

In 2021, ICE Homeland Security Investigations arrested Salama in Houston on a felony warrant issued by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office in Alabama. He was extradited to Alabama, indicted, and released after paying bond. Following that release, ICE again took him into custody and placed him in removal proceedings.

Salama was later granted an immigration bond and released. In 2024, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of harassment, serving a 60-day jail sentence before being released and continuing to report to ICE as instructed.

Earlier this year, an immigration judge denied his request to terminate removal proceedings. He was arrested again this month and remains in ICE custody pending the outcome of his case.

“Salama was clearly a threat to public safety, but the policies at the time allowed him to be released and possibly reoffend,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Harlingen Field Office Director Juan Agudelo in a press release. “Being allowed to enter the United States is a privilege. Anyone who violates their terms of admission by committing egregious felonies will not be allowed to remain here. We will find you, arrest you and deport you.”