Thanks to your help, the campaign against Ansar Mahmood's deportation (see fact sheet below and http://www.chathampeace.org ) has gained the support of elected officials including Congressmen Rangel and Hinchey, and Senators Schumer and Clinton. The Washington Post, the Guardian, and NBC are among the dozens of domestic and international media outlets that have spoken out against the detention and deportation of this young Pakistani man who was caught in the post 9/11 dragnet. We have collected hundreds of letters of support, asking Homeland Security to free Ansar. Now we need to
step up the pressure - one last time.
Ansar has been detained administratively for over 2 years. His fight in the courts is over. The Department of Homeland Security must decide in the next few days whether to ship Ansar to Pakistan, or let him rejoin his community here by granting him deferred action (a status that allows him to return to his life & work in upstate New York).
Please help us THIS THURSDAY, MAY 20th FROM 2-4 P.M. by calling the officials who decide Ansar's fate. (If it's impossible for you to call
during those hours, please call at another time during that day.) Below are the numbers to two key officials, and a statement you can read to
express your support:
*** I urge the Department of Homeland Security to grant deferred action to Ansar Mahmood, a young Pakistani man caught in the post 9/11
dragnet. Before being detained he was living and delivering pizza in Hudson, NY. His community and his supporters around the world have been
fighting for his freedom for 2 years. I am outraged that the government is pouring my tax dollars into the detention and deportation of our neighbors and friends. Give Ansar back!***
CALL IN TO:
*Victor Cerda
Detention & Removal Office
202.305.2734 or 202.514.4922
*Bill Cleary
Buffalo Immigration & Customs Enforcement
716.551.4741 x 2530
For more information on how to support this campaign, contact:
* Ansar Mahmood Defense Committee:
Susan Davies @ 518.392.9477 or
Bob Elmendorf @ 518.766.2992
* Families for Freedom:
Aarti Shahani @ 212.898.4121
Also see www.chathampeace.org
And, please, pass this on to others who might be sympathetic to Ansar Mahmood's cause. Thanks!
ANSAR MAHMOOD FACT SHEET
Background on Ansar Mahmood
Ansar Mahmood is from Moinud-Din-Pur, Pakistan. He was born on August 4,
1977. He has five brothers and three sisters. The family is a low-income
family--they have a small two to three room house. His father was in the
military, a non-commissioned officer and also did some agricultural work.
His father is now in fragile health having suffered a stroke. Because his
family highly values education, Mr. Mahmood attended college and one of
his central goals in helping his family financially is to make it possible
for his sisters to get a decent education.
Mr. Mahmood came to the US on April 22, 2000, when he won a green card in
a diversity "lottery." He settled first in Salisbury, MD and then moved to
Hudson, NY. In Hudson, he got a job working for a pizza parlor. He worked
overtime in order to send $400 to $500 monthly to support his parents and
younger sisters in Pakistan. He loved Hudson because of its beauty and
because he felt he was treated as an equal whatever his economic
background.
Mr. Mahmood's Arrest and How His Case Developed
On October 9, 2001, Mr. Mahmood stopped in his pizza delivery rounds at
the water treatment facility center in Hudson, NY. He asked a worker there
to take his picture in front of the facility because there was a beautiful
view of the Catskill Mountains behind him. He wanted to send home a
picture to his family in Pakistan. But the guards--suspecting that this
young Pakistani man might be planning to poison the water system--called
the police. At one of his next deliveries, he was called back to the pizza
parlor where a policeman questioned him and he was put in the Hudson jail
overnight.
On October 10, 2001 10-12 law enforcement officials from the FBI, the New
York State Police and other agencies interrogated him without benefit of
an attorney.
>From Oct 10 to 16 he was locked up in the county jail. For his last forty
hours in jail he received no food. His apartment was searched and papers
were found showing he had helped two fellow immigrants from his hometown
get a job and a car, and co-signed on a lease for them. They had come into
the US legally but had overstayed the terms of their visas. They were
picked up by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) on October
10 2001 and deported.
On October 16 Mr. Mahmood was cleared of any terrorism charges.
On October 18 Mr. Mahmood was released on $10,000 bond and required to
appear in court once a week.
On January 25, 2002 Mr. Mahmood's court-appointed public defender advised
him to plead guilty to "Illegal Harboring of Aliens." By doing this he
gave up his right to appeal. He was sentenced to time served and 5 years
probation.
Immediately after his conviction Mr. Mahmood was kept in the Albany County
jail for twelve days, and then shipped to Buffalo Federal Detention Center
(Batavia, NY). INS charged Mr. Mahmood as being removable from the United
States in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
On July 17, 2002 the INS ordered him deported. His immigration lawyer
Rolando Velasquez appealed the decision. The Board of Immigration Appeals
denied his appeal. In April 2003 Judge David Hurd of the Northern District
of New York dismissed Mr. Mahmood's move to vacate the underlying
conviction. Mr. Mahmood had a habeas pending in the 2nd Circuit, which he
has withdrawn in hope of discretionary action.
Community Support and Media Interest
Since the summer of 2002 the Hudson Peace Vigil has been advocating for
the release of Ansar Mahmood. In late April 2003 citizens from across
Columbia County began to form a committee to work to stop the deportation
of Ansar Mahmood. By the end of June 2003 a committee of 30 people had
formed to support Mr. Mahmood. Their work has included a petition drive,
community meetings, talking to politicians, talking to the media and
networking with other organizations and individuals across the country.
Mr. Mahmood's case has received extensive national and local press
attention including:
- Hanna Rosin. Ansar Mahmood's American Dream, Washington Post, September
28, 2003 (This is her third article about Mr. Mahmood)
- Ellen Wulfhurst. New York Town unites to help immigrant fight
deportation, Reuters, October 28, 2003
- Brian Mann. All Things Considered Profile, National Public Radio, August
5, 2003
- Gabe Pressman. WNBC, NYC aired a two-part piece on Mr. Mahmood. October
14 and 16, 2003
- Free Ansar Mahmood. Washington Post editorial. March 27, 2002 (The Post
wrote two editorials supporting Mr. Mahmood)
- Time to Free Ansar Mahmood. Hudson Register-Star editorial. June 26,
2002 (The Register-Star has published 8 editorials in support of Mr.
Mahmood and many more news articles.)
- Michael Hill. Pizza delivery man hopes to stay in US, Associated Press
(This story ran in over 40 media outlets nationwide)
- Other media coverage has included reports in the Los Angeles Times,
Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY), The Guardian (UK), The Journal
News (Westchester), The Independent (Columbia County, NY), The Chatham
Courier (Chatham, NY), and Metroland (Albany, NY), CNN's Newsnight and
WHEC (Rochester, NY).
The second Washington Post editorial on Mr. Mahmood, published on January
17, 2003, states: "If the INS looks hard enough, it can find a technical
violation by many if not most immigrants, particularly through the
ever-shifting prism of the immigration bureaucracy. When these rules are
enforced with exceptional zeal for a selected group, the message becomes:
Terrorist or not, even legal or not, we're better off without you. And
that's not true of people such as Mr. Mahmood."
The Solution
As of December 2003 Mr. Mahmood is still in the Buffalo Federal Detention
Center and is now the longest held Pakistani detainee in the facility.
Over the past two years Mr. Mahmood's parents and sisters have suffered
because he has not been able to provide for them. Mr. Mahmood has
exhausted all legal remedies within the courts. His supporters have
petitioned Acting Field Director Bill Cleary, Buffalo Department of
Homeland Security, to: (1) release Mr. Mahmood under an order of
supervision pursuant to INA 241(a)(3); and (2) grant him deferred
action. Congressional support would greatly strengthen this effort to
persuade DHS to exercise its discretion favorably.
You can help by contacting:
Mr. William C. Cleary, Acting Field Director, BICE Detention and Removal
Operations
130 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14202 Phone: 716-551-4741 ext 2530
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
476 Russell Senate Office Bldg., Washington, DC 20510 Phone: 202-224-4451
(Leecia Eve)
Senator Charles Schumer
757 3rd Avenue, Suite 1702, New York, NY 10017 Phone: 212-486-4430 (Anita
Cavallino)
U.S. Representative John Sweeney
416 Cannon House Office Bldg., Washington, DC 20515 Phone 202-225-5614
(Chris Fish)
The Ansar Mahmood Defense Committee
c/o Chatham Peace Initiative, P.O. Box 34, Chatham, NY 12165
http://www.chathampeace.org info@chathampeace.org