An Islamic cleric who has been in federal detention for nearly seven months told a judge Thursday he would end his legal fight against a series of immigration charges and be returned to his homeland. But where exactly that homeland is remains unclear.Abrahim Sheikh Mohamed, who served as an imam at Abu Bakr Mosque in Rainier Valley, has been held without bond since he was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in November. Well-respected among local Somalis, Mohamed has told authorities that he is Somali, born and raised in the war-torn country on the horn of Africa. But during an hourlong hearing before an immigration judge on Thursday, ICE lawyers presented evidence, including a Kenyan ID and passport documents, attempting to prove the imam is actually a Kenyan citizen.
Immigration authorities will begin efforts immediately to deport him there. But as part of the deportation process, the government must prove he is a Kenyan citizen, and Kenya must agree to accept him. If it doesn't, the judge said he could be sent to Somalia, which has no functioning government and, unlike Kenya, no repatriation agreement with the U.S.