Washington Post:
The scene was emblematic of the war on terror: a government helicopter clattering over a home in Burke as gun-toting agents smashed through the door and handcuffed the owner, a Lebanese immigrant.
Hassan Khalil, 37, was arrested by agents with a local terrorism task force this May and charged with immigration fraud. But now, officials say, the charge has been dropped. The reason: a mistake in Khalil's immigration records.
...
Khalil's case was featured in a June article in The Washington Post about the government's increased use of immigration laws against people who have come under scrutiny in terrorism cases.
U.S. officials say that such charges sometimes are the easiest way to detain someone who could be a threat and that there is nothing wrong with prosecuting people who have broken immigration laws.
Authorities have declined to comment on what brought Khalil to their attention or whether he could face further accusations. He was charged in May with lying on his citizenship application by failing to note an arrest by U.S. officials in the early 1990s for being in the country illegally.
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