Ansar Mahmood Deported After 31 Months; A Pizza Delivery Man from Pakistan who took a snapshot in front of reservoir

After thirty-one months in detention, Ansar Mahmood was deported by the United States government. He was flown out of JFK International Airport on a Pakistan International Airlines commercial flight accompanied by two guards. Because Mr. Mahmood was not informed of his exact deportation date ahead of time and because his telephone privileges were suspended at the time he was notified of his deportation, he was unable to contact his friends and supporters to tell them of his deportation until he was already at the airport. This meant that the people he had adopted as his American family and friends were unable to wish him good-by either at the airport or even on the telephone.

“This is part of the government’s strategy,” said AMDC member Susan Davies, “to keep the current epidemic of deportations invisible to the American public. They don’t want the sorrow and pain caused by their harsh immigration policies recorded and reported because that might cause people to question what’s going on.”

Ansar Mahmood came to the US legally having won a green card in a lottery. He hoped this would be the beginning of a better life for his parents and his younger sisters who live in poverty in Pakistan. He worked as a pizza delivery man in Hudson, NY and made enough money to send home. Then on October 9, 2001 he was arrested because he asked guards at the Hudson water treatment plant to take his picture by the plant with the Catskill mountains in the background.

Aarti Shahani and Subhash Kateel of Families for Freedom in New York City did rush out to the airport in an attempt to wish Mr. Mahmood good-by but were not able to reach him in time. Mr. Mahmood did phone the Ansar Mahmood Defense Committee shortly before boarding the plane, and was unable to speak to them directly but did leave a message saying that he was at the airport and being deported.

The Ansar Mahmood Defense Committee will be releasing a formal statement in response to Mr. Mahmood's deportation.

Mr. Mahmood was first placed in the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in January 2002 under an order of deportation because of the harsh 1996 Immigration Laws which made detention and deportation mandatory for non-citizens with a wide range of legal and bureaucratic infractions.

Ansar Mahmood came to the US legally having won a green card in a lottery. He hoped this would be the beginning of a better life for his parents and his younger sisters who live in poverty in Pakistan. He worked as a pizza delivery man in Hudson, NY and made enough money to send home. Then on October 9, 2001 he was arrested because he asked guards at the Hudson water treatment plant to take his picture by the plant with the Catskill mountains in the background. They were suspicious that he might be a terrorist and called the police. Mr. Mahmood was immediately cleared of any connection to terrorism, but was detained and ordered deported because he pled guilty to “harboring illegal aliens” for helping fellow immigrants whose visas had expired.

In April 2003 a group of local people formed the Ansar Mahmood Defense Committee which worked with Mr. Mahmood and other organizations and individuals across the country to fight his deportation.

Mr. Mahmood received international media attention for his fight against his arbitrary detention and deportation. He received Congressional support from seven U.S. Senators and twenty member of the U.S. House of Representatives as well as a majority of the Hudson City Council members. He also received support and sympathy from individuals and non governmental organizations across the country. He is also one of thirteen September 11 detainees for whom the ACLU submitted a petition to the Office of the United Nations Commissioner on Human Rights protesting the arbitrary detention of Arab and Muslim men following 9/11.

For more information about Ansar Mahmood check www.chathampeace.org or write the Ansar Mahmood Defense Committee, c/o CPI, PO Box 34, Chatham, NY 12037, or call www.chathampeace.org .

-------------------

McReynolds Deplores Deportation of Ansar Mahmood

August 13, 2004
For More Information: David McReynolds, (646) 942-7118

David McReynolds, the Green Party candidate for United States Senate in New York, today blasted the Bush administration for the deportation of Ansar Mahmood after 31 months in US prison.

"Mahmood was an innocent person caught up in the 9/11 hysteria that has gripped too many American politicians. The US government needs to stop its war against people of the Muslim faith. We have to stop attacking people because of the color of their skin, their national origin, sexual orientation or religious beliefs," stated McReynolds.

Mahmood, a Pakistani citizen in the U.S. legally, was working as a pizza delivery person in Hudson, NY. He was arrested shortly after 9/11 because he asked a security guard to take a picture in front of the local reservoir so that he could send the photo home to his parents, whom he was helping to support. The US government quickly admitted that Mahmood was not a terrorist, but they cited him for illegally allowing other Pakistani citizens to stay in his home. Despite widespread community support for Mahmood, he was deported yesterday.

Last week, McReynolds challenged the government's sting operation that resulted in an arrest of two Muslim religious leaders on money laundering charges in Albany. While Governor Pataki and other officials quickly labeled the individuals as terrorists, the federal government quickly admitted that there is no terrorist plot. The sting operation has resulted in complaints from the Pakistani government which claimed it increased the risk of attack of Pakistani diplomats.

"Why aren't Bush and Pataki focusing on real terrorists, like the people who murdered 3,000 people in NYC on September 11? Where are the terrorists in the U.S. who aided and abetted the hijackers? If they want to target money launders, why aren't they going after the people who financed September 11th, starting with the Pakistani intelligence service and the Saudi ruling family?" asked McReynolds, who worked for the War Resister's League for 39 years. The 9/11 Commission, in its final report, said that it was not important to identify who paid for the estimated $500,000 cost of the 9/11 attack.

Mr. Mahmood was first placed in the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in January 2002 under an order of deportation because of the harsh 1996 Immigration law Mr. Mahmood received Congressional support from seven U.S. Senators and twenty member of the U.S. House of Representatives as well as a majority of the Hudson City Council members. He is one of thirteen September 11 detainees for whom the ACLU submitted a petition to the Office of the United Nations Commissioner on Human Rights protesting the arbitrary detention of Arab and Muslim men following 9/11.

The Greens and David McReynolds are also supporting Imam Warith-Deen Umar. Umar, the lead Muslim chaplain in the New York prison system, has been targeted by Governor Pataki and Senator Schumer following a slanderous article in the Wall St. Journal. Their actions resulted in Umar losing his job with the federal prison system, being barred from the New York State prisons, and the loss of other contracted work that Umar relied on to support his family. Umar is presently suing Schumer and Pataki for slander and libel and is demanding reinstatement of his right to serve Muslim prisoners.

At a local mall in Colonie, security guards recently took two Muslim men into custody because they were praying in the parking lot.
See also:
http://www.chathampeace.org

This work is in the public domain.