He was probably salivating at the thought of some fresh illegal meat coming in from Mexico. Now his dream is on hold .
An activist for immigration reform was arrested and arraigned on child pornography charges in Brooklyn federal court Wednesday.
Roy Naim, 29, pleaded not guilty to a count of receiving child pornography, and was denied bail by Judge Joan M. Azrack.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Saritha Komatireddy argued Naim was a risk to the community as his alleged crimes involved children, and he sometimes worked with a youth advocacy group and volunteered at a camp for children. She added he was a flight risk as he has no real job and isn’t a citizen of the country.
Naim’s attorney, Richard A Finkel, countered that his client was a respected member of his community, and told the court how Naim, who was mentioned in a 2012 Time magazine article on immigration reform, volunteered for many charities and had become a relatively well-known activist on immigration.
A well-known activist featured on a Time cover but not here legally? Wait, we thought all these people were living in the shadows?
Naim moved with his family from Israel when he was 3 years old, but has not attained U.S. citizenship.
Naim was mentioned in a cover story for Time magazine in June 2012 by journalist and filmmaker, Jose Antonio Vargas, who publicly revealed his own status as an undocumented immigrant and gaining support among so-called DREAMers — advocates for a path to citizenship for young undocumented immigrants.
In a story on his life that he wrote for the website Empathizethis.com, Naim said, “I read this article about Jose Antonio Vargas, who outed himself as an undocumented person. I remember reading that article, and it gave me a lot of hope. I started connecting with Jose, and I ended up (in) Time magazine with him.”
