In fact, in case you missed the story of Abdel Jabbar Hamdan, a Palestinian who has overstayed his visa by 27 years, during which time he founded a mosque in Orange County, CA, raised millions of dollars here in America which he's been sending to Hamas, here is the story:
O.C. man freed after 2 years of detention
The FBI investigated, had him incarcerated, the ACLU appealed his case and he was freed earlier this month by Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr., a Carter appointee who denied the government's motion to continue to detain Hamdan.
So, yes, overstaying visas and attempts to overstay visas (could be the case with the Egyptial students) have everything to do with illegal immigration.
Wouldn't it be nice if we criminally charged people we "detained" for two years so they don't have to be released?
Yup. It's always been easier to get a visa and overstay.
Already read the story you mentioned.
I suspect that they just held him on the visa violation because they didn't yet have the goods on him re: the fundraising. At some point the gov has to show that they have enough to justify his detention, and presumably they could not do so.
That being said, there's no reason not to deport him (except for the decades-long history of not deporting people for this kind of violation).
The FBI investigated, had him incarcerated,...