Singaporean Amos Yee in US immigration detention facility after being released on parole from prison

SINGAPORE: Singaporean Amos Yee is in the custody of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after he was released on parole from prison less than a week ago.

Yee, 27, is currently held at Dodge Detention Facility in Juneau, Wisconsin, according to checks on the ICE detainee database on Monday (Nov 24).

On Nov 20, Yee was released on parole from Danville Correctional Center, Illinois, where he had been serving time for possession of child pornography and grooming a child.

According to ICE, people are detained to “secure their presence for immigration proceedings or removal” from the country. 

They may also be taken into custody if ICE determines they are a “public safety or flight risk” during the custody determination process.

CNA has contacted US ICE for more information, including whether Yee would be deported to Singapore.

Yee was granted asylum by the US in 2017 despite opposition from the Department of Homeland Security. Before that, he had been jailed twice in Singapore for wounding religious feelings.

In October 2020, he was arrested by US marshals in Chicago for possession of child pornography and grooming a 14-year-old girl.

A US court heard that Yee had befriended the victim in February 2019. They began an “online courtship”, during which he repeatedly asked for her naked photos.

On occasions, he asked her to engage in role play and “sexual fantasies”, said the prosecution. This was despite the victim telling him that she was 14 years old.

Yee used WhatsApp to “seduce, solicit and lure” the victim and distributed photographs of her online. This went on until July 2019, the court heard.

Yee pleaded guilty to the charges in December 2021 and he was sentenced to six years’ jail, with the prison term backdated to his arrest date.

He was granted parole in October 2023, but was taken back into custody about a month later for violating parole conditions.