Undocumented immigrant received temporary protected status and he admits attempting to help ISIS terrorists

A Honduran citizen, who came to the United States as an undocumented immigrant and received a temporary protected legal status, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to trying to support the terrorist group ISIS.

According to the Justice Department, 53-year-old Vicente Adolfo Solano planned to detonate an explosive device at a Miami mall, a plan revealed to three government sources including two undercover FBI agents.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Gilbert said that Solano wanted to “kill as many people as he could at the food court on a crowded Friday night.”

U.S. Magistrate Judge Chris McAliley similarly said “the evidence is compelling that you intended to kill many people.” Solano pleaded guilty on Wednesday, will face sentencing on May 30, 2018, and could get the death penalty.

Authorities arrested him just after he walked toward a mall entrance carrying what he thought was an explosive device.

His arrest came amid a broader debate about immigrants receiving temporary protected status (TPS) in the United States. That status, typically given to areas affected by natural disasters or armed conflict, doesn’t offer a path to citizenship but does allow immigrants to stay in the United States for a limited period of time.

Solano reportedly arrived in the United States in the late 1990s and, according to the Miami Herald, was illegally in the United States and received temporary protected legal status.

President Donald Trump caught intense backlash after a report surfaced claiming that he said he wanted to remove TPS from African, El Salvadorian, and Haitian immigrants.

“Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” he reportedly asked.

Honduras received protection in 1999 after Hurricane Mitch struck South America. Attorney General Janet Reno designated both Honduras and Nicaragua for TPS.

FBI agent David Clancy said that he was unaware of Solano having any religious affiliation and that there was no indication he converted to Islam.

On Facebook in March, however, he changed his profile name to Abad Solano. “I am Abad, son of Allah. May our black flag live on and we continue our battle,” he wrote.

Source: IJR