Free Republic

The leader of a small Philadelphia mosque was deported to his native Egypt on Thursday for overstaying his visa, authorities said. Mohamed Ghorab, imam of the Ansaar Allah Islamic Society in the city's Bridesburg section, lost his battle to remain in the United States last week when a federal appeals court upheld a judge's deportation order. "The removal of Mr. Ghorab represents the latest in (the government's) effort to ensure that there are consequences for violations of US immigration laws," Thomas Decker, of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement's Philadelphia office, said in a statement.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Federal agents raided a mosque and two homes in Philadelphia on Thursday and took a Muslim cleric into custody on immigration charges, authorities and witnesses said. Internal Revenue Service agents executed a search warrant at the Ansaar Allah Islamic Society and an adjacent home in the city's Bridesburg section, plus a third home in Northeast Philadelphia, according to IRS spokesman Skip Bedics. No one was arrested on criminal charges, but immigration authorities detained Mohamed Ghorab, an Egyptian who is the imam at the small mosque, which is housed inside a cinderblock garage. FBI agents were also on...