The son of a Hamas founder, who spied for Israel, has been granted asylum by a U.S. immigration judge in San Diego, Calif.

More than a year after the U.S. Department of Homeland of Security denied Mosab Hassan Yousef asylum on the grounds he was a security danger, a court decided he should be allowed to stay in the country.

The deportation hearing lasted only 15 minutes. The San Diego judge ruled that Yousef can stay in the U.S. after he passes a routine background check.

An attorney for the  U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the government is dropping any objections to asylum, but offered no explanation on why.

Life at Stake

According to his attorneys, the 32-year-old would likely be killed if he were to be deported.

"For 10 years, he fought terrorism in secret, hiding what he was doing and who he was," his attorney, Steven Seick, wrote in a court filing. "He deserves a safe place away from violence and fear."

Yousef left Hamas and spent 10 years working with Israeli intelligence, helping prevent several terrorist attacks. He has also abandoned Islam for the Christian faith, prompting his Muslim relatives to disown him.

"If I have to be somewhere else, I will keep fighting the God of Islam," Yousef said, "because he has taken my family from me."