Outside the Beltway

Kwame James, Shoe Bomb Hero, Becomes Citizen

James Joyner · Saturday, April 10, 2010 · 5 comments

Kwame James, a private citizen who helped subdue Richard Read, is now an American citizen.

David Dow/NBAE/Getty Images

Kwame James had to wait nearly 10 years to be sworn in as a U.S. citizen, a long time compared with the time he spent helping subdue would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid on a trans-Atlantic flight.  James, now 32, wore a gray pinstriped suit and blue tie at Thursday’s ceremony in Atlanta, which ended years of immigration limbo that began after he helped thwart the terror attack aboard a Paris-to-Miami flight in December 2001.

The 6-foot-8 basketball player — who had played two years in high school in the U.S. and four years at Division I Evansville  — was napping when a flight attendant roused him. Ten rows back, Reid was scuffling with passengers and the crew after he tried to ignite explosives hidden in his shoes. James helped tie up Reid with belts and headset wires, and took turns holding Reid by his ponytail with another passenger until the plane could land in Boston.

Nearly 10 years later, James would rather talk about how happy he is to be a new citizen and his passion for music. “I became a citizen of one of the best countries in the world and I am very happy,” he said. “All the things that people come here for, that’s what I’m here for, the opportunity. You can come from nothing and become something here, just through hard work.”

James, who was born in Canada and raised in Trinidad, was playing professional basketball in France at the time of the incident. He had been traveling to the U.S. to meet his then-girlfriend and take her to his family’s home in Trinidad for the holidays. He returned to France after the trip but asked his basketball coach for some time off when the reality of the flight’s close call set in.  “I didn’t understand the magnitude of what happened at first,” he said.

He entered the U.S. as a tourist but later realized he couldn’t overstay his visa if he wanted to become a citizen later. He agreed to testify against Reid, but the government seemed to turn its back on him after Reid pleaded guilty before trial in October 2002, said his immigration lawyer, Michael Wildes.

Wildes was shocked that someone who had acted heroically might lose permission to stay in the U.S., and he volunteered during a nationally televised to take the case for free.  Wildes brought James’ case to the attention of then-New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and Rep. Joe Crowley. He also helped James apply for a visa that allowed him to play basketball.

James ended up making the cut for the minor league Brooklyn Kings. The assistant coach and co-owner of the team, Dan Liebman, said the two “became like brothers” and even let James crash at his apartment. “He’s an incredible class act through and through,” Liebman said. “People should model their children after him.”

You’d think there would be a fast track available to people like this.   Join the Army and fight in America’s wars:  Citizen.  Risk your life to save passengers from a terrorist:  Citizen.   It’s just a no-brainer.  Scoop these people up and assimilate them.