Refugee Prison Break

Chapter 12

During my research into the Florida facility, I learned it held a number of notable detainees. Their potential value to my mission only struck me after I had researched humanitarian grants to apply for under the guise of "Promoting Liberty Through Novel Engineering," as I phrased it. (As far as I was aware, using a boring machine for a prison break had never been done.)

The problem with applying for legitimate grants included time, with deadlines months away, the need for presentations and interviews, and the unlikeliness of actually winning the award given the worthier submissions I was competing against.

So I asked myself, who would be a more sympathetic, more dynamic donor? The best answer I could come up with was, the wealthy family of another inmate.

Ali Sarraf had a tragic tale of being coerced into helping US forces overrun Iraq, and then finding his old friends and neighbors wanted him dead. When he fled to America, he became entangled in the nebulous asylum system that Bas had just entered. A decade-and-a-half later, Ali was still languishing in detention.

This was despite his parents being rich exiles who, according to one article, had spent millions lobbying to release their son. After some more digging, I discovered that their net worth was nearly a billion bucks. Surely they would be interested in a plan that to them was mere loose change, and that would have immediate results.

What I needed was an excellent presentation. I was so excited by the idea, I stayed up all night putting together an outline proposal. When the sun peaked over the horizon, feeling delirious from the fevered effort, I tracked down their address and booked a flight to Dubai.