Shimon Avta, an Israel cannabis agromist was hired in Las Vegas to work with companies who wanted to learn more about growing in legal states. He has been living in Las Vegas for several years with his wife, and they are even a heavy part of the Jewish community here.
He loved working here and was helping grow the economy in Las Vegas. However, on January 8th, after he filed for permanent status in the United States as a resident, hoping to work here full time, he was told that he needed to leave the Country immediately.
He was told that if he didn’t leave the United States, he would be put in prison for life, as a drug trafficker, because he was working in the “legal” marijuana industry.
He immediately booked a flight outside of the US, to go to Israel and try to deal it there.
On the connecting flight in San Francisco, federal agents met him on the plane and immediately handcuffed him and wouldn’t even tell him what was happening.
“I haven’t heard of anyone being deported for that,” said Saul Kaye, founder and CEO of iCan: Israel-Cannabis, which promotes Israel’s industry overseas.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, or USCIS – the Department of Homeland Security arm tasked with processing Green Cards – sent Abta a letter dated Dec. 20 denying his application for a Green Card.
Shimon Abta, an Israel cannabis agromist was hired in Las Vegas to work with companies who wanted to learn more about growing in legal states. He has been living in Las Vegas for several years with his wife, and they are even a heavy part of the Jewish community here.
He loved working here and was helping grow the economy in Las Vegas. However, on January 8th, after he filed for permanent status in the United States as a resident, hoping to work here full time, he was told that he needed to leave the Country immediately.
He was told that if he didn’t leave the United States, he would be put in prison for life, as a drug trafficker, because he was working in the “legal” marijuana industry.
He immediately booked a flight outside of the US, to go to Israel and try to deal it there.
On the connecting flight in San Francisco, federal agents met him on the plane and immediately handcuffed him and wouldn’t even tell him what was happening.
“I haven’t heard of anyone being deported for that,” said Saul Kaye, founder and CEO of iCan: Israel-Cannabis, which promotes Israel’s industry overseas.
HIi letter from Immigration said that, “USCIS has determined that you are an illicit trafficker of controlled substances. Therefore, you are inadmissible to the United States. There is no waiver for this inadmissibility.”
Now he’s living in Israel again, trying to restart his life, after losing his home in Las Vegas, curious why he was targeted.
