A Somali described as a “person-of-interest” to the FBI is being held in Manitoba after he and another man walked across the border from Minnesota and were captured by RCMP officers.
Ahmed Abdi Ismail and his travelling companion got 15 kilometres inland before they were picked up by members of the RCMP Integrated Border Enforcement Team on March 20.
Three days later, FBI agents flew to Winnipeg to interview Mr. Ismail, who is described in court documents only as “the subject of an FBI investigation for matters of security.”
Although he has been detained almost two months now, the reasons for the FBI probe remain a mystery. “All we know is that the FBI is interested in him and has asked for him to be held,” Anthony Navaneelan, his Toronto lawyer, said Wednesday.
The Canada Border Services Agency is conducting its own investigation into whether he should be deported under a section of the immigration law that applies to those engaged in terrorism, espionage and subversion.
Mr. Ismail has claimed refugee status in Canada. The Immigration and Refugee Board declined to release any information about the case, saying the proceedings were being conducted in private. The CBSA likewise would not comment for privacy reasons.
But documents filed in the Federal Court show that Mr. Ismail was arrested near Emerson, Man., a border town about 600 kilometres north of Minneapolis, where the American Somali population is concentrated.
But despite the fact Mr. Ismail was under police investigation in the U.S., considered a possible security threat to Canada and had entered the country illegally, the IRB ordered the CBSA to release him from custody.
After calling a CBSA officer “narrow-minded,” Vancouver IRB member Leanne King said Mr. Ismail could not be detained on security grounds because he had not been arrested at a port of entry.
The government appealed what it called Ms. King’s “plainly wrong” and “unreasonable” decision to the Federal Court. Mr. Ismail is currently being detained on grounds other than security. “He’s still detained at a maximum security facility in Manitoba,” Mr. Navaneelan said.
The lawyer said Mr. Ismail had not slipped across the border to escape the FBI investigation but simply to seek refugee status. Those coming from the U.S. are not allowed to claim refuge at Canadian land borders. As a result, they sometimes try to enter the country illicitly, he said.
Asked why Mr. Ismail had not sought refuge in Minnesota, Mr. Navaneelan said while he did not know the specifics of the case, those who have been in the U.S. for more than a year are not allowed to claim asylum.
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