Egyptian student to be deported from US after saying on Facebook killing Donald Trump would do the world 'a favour'

An Egyptian student is to leave the US after his visa was revoked when he posted on Facebook that he would be doing the world "a favour" if he killed Donald Trump. Egyptian-national Emadeldin Elsayed, was living near Los Angeles where he was studying to become a pilot at a local flight school.

Last month the 23-year-old posted on Facebook: "I literally don't mind taking a lifetime sentence in jail for killing this guy, I would actually be doing the whole world a favour," according to his lawyer. This led to him being interviewed by secret service agents at his flight college and although not charged with a crime the US authorities sought to deport him.

Now Elsayed is being held in a jail in Orange County, California, after his visa was revoked. This means he can no longer study and his stay in the US will become illegal.

Immigration authorities say they would allow him to return home voluntarily as long as he left by 5 July. And Elsayad's lawyer said he regrets the comments made about the controversial billionaire and fears his client could become a target for hate in the US.

"He's being detained, I think, primarily because he's a Muslim and he's a Middle Easterner," Hani Bushra told the AP. "This kid is going to become a poster boy for hating America."

Elsayed had previously said that he never intended to hurt anyone with his comments and wrote the post because of Trump's comments about temporarily banning Muslims from entering the US. Elsayad is said to be devastated at seeing his dreams of becoming a pilot destroyed and has lost $40,000 (£28,000) of his tuition money.

Donald Trump is currently the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for the presidency but has caused controversy by promising a crackdown on immigration. His plans include building a wall along the entire Mexican border, paid for by Mexico.

Bushra said according to the New York Times: "It seems like the government was not able to get a criminal charge to stick on him, so they used the immigration process to have him leave the country. The rhetoric is particularly high in this election, and I just feel he got caught up in the middle."