'Worst of the worst': Amos Yee featured in US Homeland Security's list of 'criminal aliens'

Just a week shy of the exact day he left Singapore to seek asylum in the United States nine years ago, Amos Yee has been labelled by US authorities as one of the "worst of the worst" immigrants. 

The 27-year-old, now a convicted paedophile, is among the almost 10,000 soon-to-be-deported immigrants featured in a new website by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday (Dec 9). 

"The US Department of Homeland Security is highlighting the worst of worst criminal aliens arrested by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)," reads the site. 

"Under Secretary (Kristi) Noem's leadership, the hardworking men and women of DHS and ICE are fulfilling President Trump's promise and carrying out mass deportations — starting with the worst of the worst — including the illegal aliens you see here." 

Yee, who has been in the US since December 2016 and was granted asylum in March the next year, is the only Singaporean in the list of 9,832 people. 

He is facing deportation to Singapore after serving a six-year jail term for child pornography and grooming a 14-year-old girl. 

Yee was sentenced to jail in 2021 after a US court heard that he befriended the victim when he was 20 and repeatedly asked for nude photos. 

He also asked her to engage in role play and "sexual fantasies", while using WhatsApp to “seduce, solicit and lure” her, and also distributed photos of her online. 

After being granted parole in October 2023, Yee made two blog posts — one of which stated that he had a goal of "(making) defending pedophiles popular". He was subsequently sent back to prison a month later. 

In a blog post shared last month, the author, claiming to be a friend of Yee, appealed for other countries to take him in as a refugee. 

The Singapore Ministry of Defence declined to comment about Yee’s possible deportation, but said that he will be charged with offences under the Enlistment Act if he returns to the Republic. 

These include failing to report for pre-enlistment medical screening and remaining outside of Singapore without a valid exit permit. 

If convicted, he can be jailed for up to three years and/or fined up to $10,000. 

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chingshijie@asiaone.com