Amos Yee’s dream of being free to shit on all religions without legal consequences came true last week when he was granted political asylum in the United States.
That’s good news for him and his team and all — but it seems that they’re not letting him out of detention so easily.
In a media update yesterday, Grossman Law LLC — the firm representing him pro bono — stated that the 18-year-old will remain in detention “on a potential, but not yet filed, appeal” by the US Department of Homeland Security.
It was the US Department of Homeland Security that strongly opposed Yee’s asylum application, saying he was legally prosecuted by the Singapore government. Which is true after all — Yee was convicted and served his time in Singapore for hate speech against Christians and Muslims.
Furthermore, the teen blogger isn’t in the clear just yet. Though US immigration judge Samuel B. Cole granted him asylum (and qualified him as a political refugee, no less), the US government still has the right to appeal her decision within 30 days.
The US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initially stated that Yee would be considered for release, but it seems like he won’t be getting his freedom so soon. He’s been in detention in Chicago since Dec 16 last year — a fact that he’s complained about on Facebook.
Grossman Law LLC, however, is currently working to get him out of there through all viable legal options.
As for Yee, who typically posts acerbic and superfluous comments on social media every once in a while, he hasn’t issued any statement of his own ever since he was granted asylum.
