2 Muslim leaders held by US may soon be released on bail
100 supporters gather at court
About 100 supporters of two Boston area Muslim leaders accused of an immigration fraud scheme rallied outside the John F. Kennedy Federal Office Building yesterday. The supporters, who included leaders of Christian and Jewish congregations who have worked with the imams, shouted with joy when told the imams would soon be released on bail.
Rabbi Barry Starr of Temple Israel of Sharon said Muhammed Masood, imam of the Islamic Center of New England in Sharon, is "a man of great faith."
"He has tried to make a difference with his faith and create peace," Starr said.
Imam Abdullah T. Faaruuq of the Mosque for the Praising of Allah in Roxbury said federal immigration officials had targeted innocent men. "They were hoping they would find something," he said. "But they won't find it with these men. They are fishing in the wrong pool."
Masood and Hafiz Abdul Hannan, imam of the Islamic Society of Greater Lowell in Chelmsford, were arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents last Wednesday, as part of what the agency said was a crackdown on visa fraud involving the religious worker program and the alleged ringleader, Muhammad Khalil, who ran a mosque in Brooklyn.
The imams' lawyers ridiculed federal immigration officials yesterday for detaining the two men based on suspicions they were connected to immigration fraud committed by Khalil.
In federal court, a lawyer for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Richard D. Neville, said Khalil was convicted in 2004 of conspiracy and visa fraud for collecting cash payments of $6,000 in return for falsely stating that immigrants were religious leaders who would work for his mosque.
Neville described one link between Khalil and Masood: Khalil's name was printed on a visa petition submitted by the Islamic Center of New England in Quincy.
But Masood's lawyer, William P. Joyce, said the letter was hand signed by an official from the Quincy mosque and that Khalil had no role in Masood's application. "They've lost the Khalil connection," Joyce said after the hearing.
Masood and his son Hassan, who is a senior at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, were ordered by an immigration judge to be released on $7,500 and $2,500 cash respectively.
While the Masoods posted bail, their struggle with immigration authorities is not over. Neville said in court that Masood violated immigration law in the early 1990s when he stayed in the United States when his student visa had expired. That violation, Neville argued, made Masood ineligible for a visa today.
Joyce said the immigration status of Masood's entire family is now shrouded in conflicting rules and laws that will take months, if not years, to sort out.
Jeremiah Friedman, the lawyer for Hassan, said in court and in a later interview that Hassan did get assistance from Khalil. But he also said Hassan complied with federal law and worked as a religious leader at Khalil's Brooklyn mosque for three years.
Friedman said that since 1997, Hassan has had permanent resident status and has become a leader of Muslims in the Lowell area, been active in interfaith efforts in the region, and served as Muslim chaplain for the state prison and Middlesex County Jail.
Hannan's bond was also set at $7,500 cash, and he was also expected to be released last night, provided the paperwork was completed.
John R. Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com. 