What we know about the visa obtained by Egyptian man who injured a dozen people in Colorado
The Egyptian man charged with injuring a dozen people in Boulder, Colorado, in an attack on demonstrators seeking the release of Israeli hostages is among hundreds of thousands of people known to overstay their visas each year in the United States.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, was born in Egypt and moved three years ago to Colorado Springs, where he lived with his wife and five children, according to state court documents. He lived for 17 years in Kuwait.
Soliman entered the country in August 2022 on a tourist visa that expired in February 2023, according to Tricia McLaughlin, spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security. She said Soliman filed for asylum in September 2022 and was granted a work authorization in March 2023, but that also expired. The department did not respond to requests for additional information.
Federal immigration authorities took Soliman's wife and children into custody Tuesday. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said authorities were investigating whether his family knew about his plan.
What is known about visa overstays?
There were 565,155 visa overstays from October 2022 through September 2023 among visitors who arrived by plane or ship — more than the population of the metro areas of Reno, Nevada, or Chattanooga, Tennessee, according to Homeland Security's most recent annual report.
The total number of overstays is much larger but has not been quantified because it does not include how many people arrive and leave by land. The cost and technological hurdles to develop a checkout system at congested land crossings are enormous.
The overstay rate for Egyptians on business or tourist visas was 4% in 2023, well below some of the biggest offenders such as Chad (49%), Laos (34%) and Sudan (26%).
Historically, academics have estimated that roughly 40% of people in the United States illegally stayed past their visas, but reliable numbers are difficult to come by. In 2016, Homeland Security published the number of overstays for the first time in at least two decades.
How did Soliman obtain a work permit?
Homeland Security did not say.
But asylum seekers become eligible for work authorization 180 days after arrival. That correlates with him arriving in the country in August 2022 and obtaining the work permit in March 2023.
Some critics say work permits create a huge magnet for asylum applications from people with weak cases. Immigration courts are backlogged with about 3.6 million cases, which can take years to resolve.
The relative ease with which asylum seekers gain work permits has also fueled some tensions with people who have been in the country illegally for years or decades.
Immigration court records are not public, and the status of Soliman's asylum case is unclear.
Egyptians had an asylum grant rate of 72% during the 12-month period through September 2024, compared with 45% for all nationalities, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Canada Standard
5 hours ago
- Canada Standard
Israeli cabinet minister tells banks to ignore EU sanctions
Bezalel Smotrich has said financial institutions in the country should take measured risks in servicing settlers targeted by Brussels in 2024 Israeli banks should provide services to settlers whom the European Union has slapped with sanctions, despite any potential repercussions, the country's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has insisted. He warned that those failing to comply could be made to pay out hefty compensations. Last July, the EU for the first time in its history imposed punitive measures on five Israeli settlers and three groups over "serious and systematic human rights abuses against Palestinians" in the occupied West Bank, which is considered part of Palestine under international law. Apart from an EU-wide entry ban and an asset freeze, the sanctions prohibit the "provision of funds or economic resources, directly or indirectly," to the affected Israeli nationals. In a post on X on Wednesday, the official, who is known for his far-right views, said that he had sent a letter to the banking supervisor, Dani Khachiashvili, in which he demanded an end to "the 'zero risk' policy on the part of banks, which leads to the abandonment of Israeli customers under the guise of compliance with foreign sanctions." Smotrich accused Israeli financial institutions of "small-mindedness" and unquestioning compliance with "unjust" EU sanctions. He argued that banks in fact "have a significant ability to act against" Brussels' punitive measures, by taking legal action and wielding their "global economic connections." The official threatened that if his call was not heeded, he would push for legislation that would force Israeli financial institutions to pay out sizable compensations to the affected individuals. The Israeli finance minister further wrote that he could also promote legislation that would require the Bank of Israel to "open and manage bank accounts for citizens on whom sanctions are imposed." Speaking to AFP last month, Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said that Stockholm would "push for EU sanctions against individual Israeli ministers" since there was no "clear improvement for the civilians in Gaza." At around the same time, her Slovenian colleague, Tanja Fajon, announced that her country was "looking into the possibility of sanctions against Israel, alongside France and Ireland." Also in May, the UK and Canada, which are not part of the EU, along with France, issued a joint statement condemning the ongoing Israeli military campaign in Gaza. The document accused the Israeli government of denying "essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population" of the Palestinian enclave. London, Ottawa and Paris threatened to "take further concrete actions," including "targeted sanctions," should "egregious actions" on the part of Israel continue. The statement also demanded that Israel halt settlement activities in the occupied West Bank. (
Toronto Star
6 hours ago
- Toronto Star
Boulder Jewish Festival proceeds with enhanced security and focus on healing after attack
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — The group that was attacked last weekend in Boulder, Colorado, while calling for Hamas to release Israeli hostages will be a central focus of the Boulder Jewish Festival, which kicks off Sunday morning in the same location where the firebombing took place. Organizers of the festival, which is in its 30th year, said they have reimagined the cultural celebration to focus on community healing after a man who yelled 'Free Palestine' threw Molotov cocktails at Run for Their Lives demonstrators, according to law enforcement officials.
Winnipeg Free Press
6 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Boulder Jewish Festival proceeds with enhanced security and focus on healing after attack
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — The group that was attacked last weekend in Boulder, Colorado, while calling for Hamas to release Israeli hostages will be a central focus of the Boulder Jewish Festival, which kicks off Sunday morning in the same location where the firebombing took place. Organizers of the festival, which is in its 30th year, said they have reimagined the cultural celebration to focus on community healing after a man who yelled 'Free Palestine' threw Molotov cocktails at Run for Their Lives demonstrators, according to law enforcement officials. Authorities have said 15 people and a dog were victims of the attack. Not all were physically injured, and some are considered victims for the legal case because they were in the area and could potentially have been hurt. Run for Their Lives, a global grassroots initiative with 230 chapters, started in October 2023 after Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip stormed into Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage. Sunday's festival at the downtown Pearl Street pedestrian mall will center the group's cause — raising awareness of the 55 people believed to still be in captivity in Gaza. The Boulder chapter walks at the mall every weekend for 18 minutes, the numerical value of the Hebrew word 'chai,' which means 'life.' 'It is going to look very different this year. Run for Their Lives is going to be featured front and center,' said Miri Kornfeld, a Run for Their Lives organizer in Denver. 'The community is looking for a way to come together after an act of violence. People just want to be together, and they want to celebrate who they are.' A group representing families of the Israeli hostages plans to send at least one family to join the Boulder chapter Sunday as it resumes its weekly walks during the festival, Kornfeld said. Art, food and music are also planned. In response to the attack, the Boulder Police Department and the FBI are coordinating to provide increased security at the festival, local synagogues and the Boulder Jewish Community Center. Festival attendees can expect drones, SWAT elements and plainclothes officers in the crowd to increase safety and make people feel at ease, police Chief Stephen Redfearn said. 'Any would-be attacker, anybody that might come there to cause harm, I want them to see that we have a lot of people there, and hopefully that dissuades anyone from doing anything nefarious,' Redfearn said Thursday. The victims of the attack include eight women and seven men, ranging in age from 25 to 88. One is a Holocaust survivor. Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, was charged Thursday in state court with 118 counts, including attempted murder, assault, illegal use of explosives and animal cruelty. He has also been charged with a hate crime in federal court and is jailed on a $10 million cash bond. Soliman, an Egyptian national who federal authorities say was living in the U.S. illegally, told police he was driven by a desire 'to kill all Zionist people,' a reference to the movement to establish and sustain a Jewish state in Israel. Authorities said he expressed no remorse about the attack. U.S. immigration officials took Soliman's wife and five children, who also are Egyptian, into custody Tuesday. They have not been charged in the attack. A federal judge on Wednesday granted a request to block the deportation of Soliman's wife and children. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who is Jewish, has deemed the attack antisemitic, meaning it targeted Jewish people because of their identity or beliefs. Sundays Kevin Rollason's Sunday newsletter honouring and remembering lives well-lived in Manitoba. Organizers have not confirmed whether all the demonstrators last Sunday were Jewish. The group is open to Jewish and non-Jewish participants. The violence in downtown Boulder unfolded against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war, which continues to inflame global tensions and has contributed to a spike in antisemitism in the U.S. It also came at the start of the holiday of Shavuot, which commemorates God giving the Torah to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai in Egypt. 'In the wake of the most violent antisemitic terrorist attack in Colorado history, we are reminded of the profound power of standing shoulder to shoulder,' Mindy Miller of Stop Antisemitism Colorado said at a community vigil Wednesday night. 'Let today be the beginning of a new chapter in Colorado — one where Jews no longer have to stand alone.' ___ Schoenbaum reported from Salt Lake City.
