A woman from Bangladesh is facing deportation four days before her son starts college at Quinnipiac University.
Salma Sikandar, 48, has lived in the United States for 20 years. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Sikandar overstayed her visa by more than 18 years and was ordered by an immigration judge to leave the country in 2016.
Sikandar, who lives in New Haven, said she filed multiple appeals to the Board of Immigration Appeals and the Second Circuit of Appeals, but all were dismissed. She currently has another appeal pending to let her stay in the country.
“This is my home, this is my family,” Sikandar said Tuesday at a rally outside of the Hartford ICE office.
Sikandar’s husband of 18 years, Anwar Mahmud, said Sikandar has been devoted to their 17-year-old, U.S. citizen son for his whole life.
“We never have spent even a night apart,” he said. “We cannot live without her.”
Mahmud is the manager at a North Haven McDonald’s and said it has been their dream to see their son Samir go to college.
On June 24, just 5 days after Samir Mahmud graduated from the Engineering and Science University Magnet School in West Haven, Sikandar was told by ICE at her annual check-in to purchase a one-way ticket to Bangladesh. She was also fitted with an ankle monitor. Her deportation date was scheduled for four days before Samir Mahmud’s first day at Quinnipiac on Aug. 27.
“I don’t understand this,” Samir said. “Does she look like someone who needs an ankle bracelet? No. She’s just a normal mom who wants her son to go to college.”
At Tuesday’s rally, dozens of supporters and local officials braved the 90-degree heat and stifling humidity to rally for Sikandar and her family.
“These are good people, hardworking people and this family should be kept together,” Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said. “We should not be going down this road. Have we not learned that separating families is wrong?”
State Rep. William Tong, who is running for state attorney general, said there weren’t many differences between his family and Sikandar’s.
“You know who also overstayed his tourist visa? My father. You know who also worked in a restaurant? My father. There is no difference between these families and all our families,” he said.
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, whose district includes New Haven, said she was deeply concerned about the situation.
In a letter to ICE, DeLauro asked the government to reopen Sikandar’s case and issue an emergency stay of deportation.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal echoed DeLauro’s request and said his office would also be filing a letter in support of the family.
“Very bluntly and astonishingly, this administration’s approach seems to reach new lows in humanity and legality,” he said in an interview Tuesday. “I’ve been absolutely appalled and heartbroken by the separation of children and families at the border and the approach here seems equally cruel and heartless.”
