An immigration court judge has denied the asylum request of a Kennebunk resident from Egypt who has been in federal custody for several months. 

Hossam Mohamed, known as “Maha” to his friends in Maine, where he moved in 2023 before being detained by federal immigration officials in August, was seeking asylum from his home country because of his identity as a gay man and LGBTQ+ activist. 

Mohamed was transferred to several different detention centers in New England before ending up in the Houston Contract Detention Facility in Texas.

On Friday, Judge Lian Yeh at the Conroe Immigration Court in Texas ruled that although Mohamed left Egypt in fear for his life, his concerns did not rise to the level of persecution that justify asylum status. 

Mohamed must appeal by June 1, or he will be deported back to Egypt, according to Yeh’s order.

John Messer, Mohamed’s sponsor from Hope Acts, a Portland nonprofit dedicated to helping immigrants, said Mohamed’s lawyer William Strom is working to file an appeal by that deadline.

According to Strom, Mohamed is remaining brave in response to the ruling. He said he wants to keep fighting and wants people to know his story.

“ There’s mountains and mountains of evidence that were submitted to the judge,” said Strom. “We’re not gonna give up. But it really is troubling.”

Strom said the plan is to get the appeal filed soon, well before the deadline approaches.

“My reaction was really quick. I mean, this is just so wrong,” Messer said. “We don’t have a lot of options. It was just a really short phone call with (Strom) to prepare an appeal.” 

According to the judge’s order, though Mohamed’s case referenced instances of sexual violence, physical assault and harassment as causes for fear if he returns to Egypt, those examples did not constitute “persecution.”

Messer said the judge made his decision without interviewing Mohamed or any witnesses — a move that left him and the rest of Mohamed’s supporters in disbelief.

“They need to let him talk, and they need to listen to the witnesses,” Messer said.

In his order, the judge defended the lack of interviews, saying Mohamed was able to make his case to a previous judge.

“Respondent may suggest that his due process rights are being violated without an opportunity to present his case and provide testimony in support of the application for relief,” Yeh’s opinion reads. “This Court disagrees.”

Mohamed held a J-1 nonimmigrant exchange visa when he fled Egypt for the U.S. in 2023 and later applied for asylum.

In August, federal immigration agents detained him in the backyard of the Kennebunk house where he had been living, telling him his visa had expired. 

Ellen Callaway, who lived in the same building and had become friends with Mohamed, has been fighting to get her friend a fair trial. 

“It’s just alarming,” Callaway said. “After everything he’s been through for eight months, yeah, he’s not a U.S. citizen — but that doesn’t mean you can treat someone like an animal.”