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Deportation Efforts Ramp Up as Migrant’s Bomb Threat Shutters Highway in South Carolina
As deportation efforts intensify under President Donald Trump, local Republican Party members are citing a recent case in South Carolina as a stark example of the need for stronger immigration enforcement. On January 2, a migrant, Ahmad Jamal Khamees Alhendi, 28, was stopped by state transport police for having a missing license plate on his tractor-trailer. When an officer discovered the plate was missing, Alhendi claimed to have a bomb in the vehicle, prompting police to shut down all six lanes of I-85 and investigation.
According to the South Carolina Department of Public Safety, Alhendi was arrested and held without bond after being charged with conveying false information about a bomb threat, breach of peace of a high and aggravated nature, and having no vehicle license. His address was listed as Oak Lawn, Illinois, and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) confirmed that Alhendi is a Jordanian national who legally entered the US in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 2018. However, he failed to comply with the terms of his legal admittance, making him an illegal immigrant in the country.
The incident has raised concerns among residents and local officials, with State Sen. Tom Fernandez and Drew McKissick, the chair of the South Carolina Republican Party, calling for stronger immigration enforcement and border security. The affair also echoes a previous instance in May, in which two Jordanian nationals were charged with illegally entering Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia.
As Trump’s new “border czar,” Tom Homan, confirmed that ICE has begun mass deportations, focusing on migrants who pose a danger to the public. The operations come after Trump declared the southern border a national emergency and announced a flurry of border-related executive orders, including the resumption of construction of the border wall and the deployment of troops to the border.
Alhendi’s case has left many questions unanswered, including why he made the fake bomb threat and what will happen to him now that he is an illegal immigrant in the country. His attorney, however, has declined to comment. Alhendi is scheduled to appear in court on August 6, 2026, before an immigration judge with the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review.