Mohanad Elshieky
- In 2019, comedian Mohanad Elshieky was detained by Customs and Border Patrol on a Greyhound bus.
- He sued the government and settled for $35,000 and pushed Greyhound to change a policy.
- Elshieky spoke to Insider about the incident, the settlement, and how it's affected him and his career.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
On January 26, 2019, Libyan comedian Mohanad Elshieky had what he considers his most lackluster comedy show, performing at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. It was daytime, in a big ballroom with high ceilings, and he thinks most students were there for extra credit.
The next day, making his way back to Portland, where he lived at the time, he boarded a series of Greyhound buses, making a transfer at the Spokane Intermodal Station. After he settled in on the bus headed to Portland, US Customs and Border Protection agents boarded the Greyhound. An officer started asking him questions and then officers proceeded to detain and interrogate Elshieky off of the bus.
With a valid Oregon driver's ID and a work permit, having been granted asylum, Elshieky was taken aback. He claims hostile agents told him that his documents were falsified and that there was no record of his asylum in their system. They eventually let him go after 20 minutes with no acknowledgment that his documents were in fact real.
At first, he was furious and tweeted what happened. That Twitter thread went viral and amassed over one hundred thousand likes.
Elshieky, who has been featured on Comedy Central and the late-night mainstay "Conan," was approached by the Northwest Immigrants Rights Project and the ACLU of Washington for legal representation and decided to sue the federal government. On 23 April, Elshieky and the US government reached a settlement agreement for $35,000.
Following the publicized incident, Greyhound eventually dropped a longstanding policy allowing Border Patrol agents on their buses without a search warrant.
Insider spoke to Elshieky to learn more about how the incident and case affected him and his career.
How did you decide to bring the lawsuit? With the Northwest immigrant rights project, and then ACLU Washington, did they approach you? How did that kind of work?
So I was not initially planning on the lawsuit only because I just didn't know that was an option, to be honest, because when I put the whole story up on Twitter in 2019 and it went viral, I was approached by ACLU Washington about potentially getting represented. And I mean, even then I wasn't sure that I want to go forward with doing it. I just wanted it to be over with. But then I started to research what happened to me is, and see if it was something unique or is it something that has been happening for a while?
And then I learned that this literally happens all the time. There were testimonies and videos on YouTube from 11, 12 years ago, about people being harassed at that same bus station. I noticed agents targeting immigrants who were mostly new to the country or don't even speak English well, and lots of people who do not have a platform to get their story out there. They just get harassed and just kind of like, go home and let it go.
So I decided I'm going to do something about it, hoping it will bring more attention to the issue. And for Greyhound, I think they felt like they will be like losing customers and they were like, "We think it's not cool for CBP to board the buses." I'm like, it's never been cool, but now you're losing money and you don't like that.
Did Greyhound reach out to you after the incident and actually address what happened to you?
They did reach out to me a day or two after the incident happened. I got a call from a PR person who heard my side of the story and said, "I'm sorry that happened to you." And initially, they said we're gonna start hanging "know your rights" posters at the stations, both in English and Spanish. And if, if an agent approaches you, these are the things that you can say.
And it was just like, okay, can you, like maybe, maybe not have them be on the bus? It was just like if Delta airlines were like, in case the plane was hijacked, this is what you can do about it. I'm not going to take your service if that's something that was going to happen, you do something about it.
You should be able to take me from point A to point B without being harassed. So I felt like they were not doing anything about it, which also motivated me to pursue the lawsuit. Because once they know it's going to be out there and they could lose money, they will change their policies, and they did.
Could you walk me through that day, if you don't mind, and tell me what happened to you?
I was coming back from Spokane in Washington. I was doing a gig at Washington State University, and the reason I went to Spokane is because that's where the bus changed - there was no direct from Pullman to Portland. I waited for the station for about three hours for the next bus to come. And then I got on when the bus arrived 15 minutes early. I remember getting on the bus, sitting by the window, and starting to looking through social media. And that's when I saw these agents get on the bus. And even when they got on the bus, it didn't really bother me because I thought they worked for Greyhound.
And even when they approached me and they were like, one of them asked for my for my ID still was like, "Oh, sure." Like, thinking he wanted to match my ID with my ticket, I've done that with Amtrak before. So I gave them my ID and then that the agent asked me what I was from, and I told him, I'm from Libya originally. And then he was like, do you have a passport on you? And I was like, I mean, why would I carry a passport on a bus? And then, and then I was like, okay, this is definitely not a Greyhound bus person. Like, why would they be asking me all of these questions?
And then he asked, do you have any other identification on you? And he went from being nice to very hostile, putting his arms between the seat in front of me and my seat, to block the exit, I guess. And then I noticed that there was like another agent who was standing by the bus exit. I told the agent, yes, I have my work permit, which was given to me by immigration and it was valid. And so was my driver's license.
And he was like, okay, follow me outside. I followed him, we sat outside, and then he asked me if I had any other documents. And I told him no. He was like, okay, what's your deal? What's your status? I told him ave I've applied for asylum and I got it approved three months ago. In my head I was like, "like, what else do you want? What's the problem?" And, and they said, "do you have your asylum papers on you?" And I told them, I was literally advised, not to take them with me, because if they get lost, it's so hard to replace - plus I can't fit them in my wallet.
The agent told me my driver's license and work permit could have easily been falsified and that they looked fake. They told me, people use fake documents all the time, and, in my head, I was like, well, it just sounds like a problem that you should deal with? So I asked them if they could look me up in their system to confirm my documents. And one of them went to check and from what I heard, it sounded like someone on their walkie-talkie said, "he's in the system and everything." I thought they'd let me go.
The first agent came to me, and said: "Just checked, and there was no record of your asylum anywhere."
And honestly, I'm not going to lie, I was freaked out. On the outside, I kept it together, but I've read so many stories of people being wrongfully deported or just mixed up in the system. And I didn't know what to do. I wanted to tell someone what was happening, and for them to understand that I went through four years of getting my asylum papers together and like doing like a four-hour interview with an asylum officer. I did stuff "by the book," as they say, and then this happened, where they lied and said, "Your papers are fake. You're not in the system."
What they kept repeating was like, "Yeah, illegals say that all the time." That's the word they kept repeating, "illegals." And then I stopped talking and trying to convince them because I thought, literally everything I say, they're not listening. I felt like they were trying to get me to admit to something.
Eventually one of them was yelling at me to take my hands out of my pocket and they just took them out. It was freezing cold so I had them in my coat pocket, and they were wearing gloves. And after 20 minutes, they gave me my papers back and they were like, okay, we're going to let you go.
They said nothing about my status being valid and made it sound like they were doing me a favor by letting me go this time. And they were like, "Okay, next time have your documents on you." I didn't say anything.
How did you feel when you got back on the bus?
We were late at that point. And I was so upset. And I was mad for many reasons, for what happened but no one seemed to care about what happened, and people were just like watching from the bus window. Agents also took two other people with them and put them in the car. For the other passengers, they were upset because they were late and that's it. And I wrote the whole thread about what happened, and I took pictures out of the bus of the agents. The only reason I did that really was because I wanted to talk to anyone, and the thread went viral.
It gained more way more attention than I ever expected, which was good and bad at the same time. 'Cause you know, like the good side that you get, you get represented, you get like people just being like, "I'm sorry this happened. Like if there was any way I can help," but like, you know, like, and then the other side of it is like getting all of these trolls and we'll send you your death threats. And just being like, "if you don't like it here, leave." It was just so weird. Like it really introduced me to a subset of the internet, I've only heard about never interacted with. And it was sad, not because like, it was only happening to me.
I just cannot imagine being this hateful, like, like, oh my God, like how, like, how sad do you have to be to just like reach out to a stranger over the internet, just to be like mad at them and be like, "the agents are just doing their jobs." And always, when something like this happens, everyone suddenly is like an immigration expert.
I got so many people who were like who are like, who were like, "I bet in Libya, you wouldn't even get this treatment. It will be even worse." Like, you want to compare yourself though to a war-torn country, be my guest. That shouldn't be your standard. I'm like, yeah, like no one has said it was a great place. That's why I left, buddy. Like, yes, things are bad. Is that what you want to use to compare yourselves to?
I appreciate you walking me through that, it sounds very traumatic. How has it affected you just in general with your career? And in any way, did the experience spur new material based on what happened?
I didn't perform for like, maybe, like two weeks or so. I tried to do a show like literally the day after and I just, I wasn't me on stage, you know? I spent two weeks at home just taking phone calls from people, and avoiding people, and replying to people. And then like we, we started the case, which went through the span of the past two years. And eventually, we got the settlement result about a week ago or so.
And eventually, I did come up with material, which I included on Comedy Central. And it did well, but it took me time to really try and find something funny about it. Or like a way to tell it in a way that was interesting. Cause like, you know, then you have people who are like, "Oh, this is a joke to you." And I'm just like, I don't know, man. I have jokes in my comedy about ISIS, and I don't think that a joke to anyone.
This is my job, you know, the thing happened to me, and I choose to tell it the way I want to tell it. What else am I going to do with it? Because like when you think about it, in a comedy-based format, that's the only way you can get to people and make them listen to what happened. I mean, people laugh and they think it's funny, but eventually, when they go home, it's kind of sticks with them.
And so you have this emotional connection that you had with the audience. And hopefully, that gets them to be more engaged about the subject. I've had people reach out to me like, "Oh my God, like, I've heard you tell the story in your set. But then I went and I looked it up and this was so bad. I had no idea like this kind of thing happened at all. Thank you for bringing it up."
At the end of the day, if you get people listening and being more engaged and more active about something, that's good in my book.
In your immigration process to the US, and in your asylum process, did you experience any similar instances of discrimination?
Yes for sure, my first time at the airport in the US. And before I got my Oregon ID and everything, I used to travel domestically using my passport; my Libyan passport always got me in trouble. And when you have a passport with a lot of Arabic written on it, you want to show them where the English pages are. But then once I got my Oregon ID that was a relief.
And I mean, I have some of that when I first entered the US in Detroit, there were so many questions from the like Homeland Security agents and stuff. And, you know, they asked me, "Oh, where in Libya, are you from?" And I'm like, "Oh, I'm from Benghazi," and it just makes stuff worse. And I remember like one of the agents was like, "So uh, how are things there?"
And I was just like, I don't know what you want me to tell you, I feel like this is a trick question. I just remember being like, whatever it is you're asking me, I'm not involved in it. I really have no idea if they have actually ever caught anyone doing anything with the big brain energy that they present.
Now, I rarely use buses to go anywhere. Now whenever I go anywhere, I just take everything with me just in case, you know, like I literally have a file full of documents. For the past few years, it's been me just avoiding any interactions with law enforcement, as much as I can like trying not to even get like a, like a speeding ticket or like a parking ticket, man.
I just don't want to deal with the government at all. I remember during the summer when the Black Lives Matter protests were happening in New York I wouldn't leave the house at all, not because I was worried because the protests were happening, but I was so afraid that because of the law enforcement presence I would like be walking to the store with a protest nearby and they would just pick me up and accuse me of doing something.
It's unfair, but I rather just protect myself at this point. Even the way I use social media started to be different. Every time I tweet something, like, even as a joke, I'm like, should I keep this up? Like, will this be twisted and used against me in any way? And that's why I'm glad the lawsuit is over. Now my social media platforms can go back to being unhinged.
Now you can get these jokes off.
Exactly, now I can say, I can say anything. I can be like, the government sucks or whatever.
What are you hoping people learn from your experience as well as with other immigrants dealing with this kind of questioning?
People should know that situations like mine are not for your protection. It's not protecting you. You're literally not going to be safer by way of them doing this and most of these actions are them just going rogue. It seems like a fun game for them, you know, to harass someone when I can't like speak English well and just like, just like make them have a bad day and just like, you know, like see them struggle just to like to form sentences and stuff like that.
The whole system that they set up is us versus them, and anyone who looks like they are not from here. Even if they're US citizens who just seem to look like not American by their standards of others. My thing is like, if you justify this happening to immigrants, once it's done with immigrants, law enforcement could come to you next. It's just a waiting game. I think a lot of Americans take their freedom and their rights were granted and they don't think that they can be easily taken away from them.
I wish things were fine and okay in Libya, and I can just live my normal life. And some people like have it way worse than I do. But people need to understand that for immigrants, they ended up here because they have to work jobs, we're basically just trying to live. I'm just trying to pursue this comedy career that I have. I am neither as perfect as some people want me to be, and I'm not bad as some people want me to be.
I am either a very hard worker and a lazy person, I procrastinate like other people do. And sometimes I just want to watch TV and do nothing. Maybe we should all work together to make life good for everyone who lives here, whether they're like a citizen or not.
Thanks, Mohanad.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.