By Brad Rollins
The Shorthorn
March 5, 2003

Twenty days after an immigration judge's ruling, a Jordanian graduate student accused of considering a terrorist attack was deported Thursday.

An official at the Homeland Security department, who asked that she not be identified by name or agency, confirmed Tuesday that Tahir Ibrihim Aletewi, 30, was returned to his native Jordan. She said she did not know if he was in custody there.

Friends say they have not heard from Aletewi since he called from a federal holding facility shortly before being deported on Feb. 27.

"The circumstances are different in every case," the source said. "If he was wanted in Jordan for any reason, it is possible he is being held by them. The country of origin is always notified of deportations. It's part of the process we follow."

A message left for the press attache at the Jordanian embassy in Washington was not returned.

The computer science engineering student was detained Jan. 31 by FBI and then-INS agents operating as part of a joint terrorism task force. He was ordered deported a week later after a hearing in which he reportedly told Dallas-based immigration Judge D. Anthony Rogers that he had considered becoming a suicide bomber.

Officials at the FBI and the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services have repeatedly declined to officially comment. The immigration bureau is the recently created replacement for the INS under the new Homeland Security Department. Immigration courts are part of the Justice Department.

Interviewed by telephone Tuesday, a Falls Church, Va.-based spokeswoman for the court disputed press reports that Aletewi was to be deported within five days of the Feb. 7 ruling.

"That's not exactly what happened," said Susan Eastwood, the spokeswoman. "During the hearing, [Aletewi] apparently said he wanted immediate return to Jordan. The judge asked how long it would take, and he was told it usually takes about five days. That's apparently where that came from."

Asked to provide a transcript of the proceeding and a copy of the judge's order, the spokeswoman said the request must be submitted in writing under the Freedom of Information Act. Under federal law, officials have up to 20 days to answer FOIA requests.

Attempts to reach The Dallas Morning News reporter on whose account an Associated Press article was based were unsuccessful.

Syed Hussain, one of Aletewi's roommates and a computer science sophomore, said he received a call at about 12:30 p.m. Thursday and was told he had 25 minutes to pack some of Aletewi's belongings and bring them to the immigration bureau's Dallas office.

"I really wanted to get the stuff to him before he left, but I didn't have enough time," he said. "It was just impossible to get there."

Hussain and another roommate, Muhammad Khan, also a computer science sophomore, said they maintained as close contact with Aletewi as possible during his month-long detention.

Khan visited Aletewi on Feb. 22 in the Dallas County Jail, where he was being held on the immigration bureau's behalf. Aletewi asked Khan to establish contact with Aletewi's brother in Jordan to find out if he would be released upon his return.

The roommates said they have not been able to reach Aletewi's family in Jordan and don't know where he is now.

"We don't know if he is detained or what at this point," Khan said. "We haven't heard from him."

The Sunday meeting was the first visit Aletewi was allowed since he was ordered deported, the roommates said.

Hussain and Khan have said they believe Aletewi was forced to sign an incriminating statement.

The Homeland Security source said she did not know if Aletewi was questioned further during the period between the judge's order and his deportation or if this contributed to the amount of outside contact he was allowed.

"There are sometimes special circumstances surrounding cases like this in which they say he can't have visitors until after they have finished their questioning," she said.

The immigration bureau official who oversaw Aletewi's deportation process was not in the office Tuesday, an official there said.