Deported for Life: For Helping a Friend to Get an Apartment and a Car

Abstract

I first met Ansar in January 2003 at the Buffalo Detention Center in Batavia, New York. I had read about him in the Human Rights Watch Report and had called his attorney to inquire further about the case. After the attorney noticed that I spoke Punjabi, Ansar’s native language, he encouraged me to see him. I drove up during a snow blizzard, stayed in a local motel in Batavia, and went to the detention center around 10:00 in the morning to visit him. We talked for the next two hours. Ansar was arrested in October 2001 when someone witnessed him photographing a scenic view next to a water treatment plant in Hudson, New York and became suspicious of his Pakistani and Muslim looks. The observer reported him to the FBI, but the Figure 1. Ansar Mahmood. agents could not find anything related to terrorism Copyright 2005 by Susan Davies. Reprinted with permission. in his records and cleared him within hours. A thorough search of his house and belongings, however, showed that he had helped his friends get an apartment and a job. Ansar had a green card, but his friends had expired visas. An immigration officer coerced him into signing a document that stated that he knew about his friends’ expired visas. By signing that statement, Ansar was transformed into a “criminal” for “harboring illegal aliens” and became subject to deportation. In January 2003, when I met him, he was in the midst of fighting his deportation on legal grounds. After listening to his story through a glass window and a telephone headset, I was moved by his dedication to his family and friends. In March 2003, I visited his home in Gujarat, Pakistan and witnessed the importance of his remittance in improving the financial status of his family. In May 2003, he lost his legal battle, and the judge ordered his deportation. Frustrated with the legal system which couldn’t distinguish between an honest resident and a criminal, I began closely working with Susan Davies, a community organizer in Hudson, New York. Susan, in collaboration with a few other individuals, had formed the Free Ansar Mahmood Committee to stop his deportation. Unfortunately, despite our efforts, Ansar was deported for life back to Pakistan in April 2005. After his deportation, Susan and I traveled to Pakistan to meet him. During this visit, both of us decided to write a book about Ansar using the methodology of oral history. Susan worked with Ansar in the morning, asking him questions and typing up his detailed responses. I worked with him in the evening and recorded over twenty hours of interviews in Punjabi. We continued with this process for about two weeks. After a week and half, Ansar was exhausted and protested, “You guys get to take a break, but I am working non-stop. I need a vacation.” We took a day off and went back to the routine afterwards. Speaking about his prison