“In July [31] 1997, Ghazi Ibrahim Abu Mezer was arrested by New York City police, foiling his plan to bomb the subway system. …He had been apprehended on three separate occasions by the Immigration and Naturalization Service [INS] within little more than a year prior to his arrest, each time for illegally entering the country from Canada. The INS had begun deportation proceedings, a lengthy process during which Abu Mezer was free on bail. He had complicated the matter by applying for political asylum on the grounds that he was in danger of arrest by Israeli law enforcement thanks to his membership in the Hamas organization.”
– Steven Emerson, American Jihad, Page 30