I say let the guy stay. It appears that he appreciates this country more than many who were born here. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm.../ap/20040120/ap_on_re_us/detained_deliveryman Pizza Deliveryman Hopes to Stay in U.S. By MICHAEL HILL, Associated Press Writer HUDSON, N.Y. - Ansar Mahmood has dropped his long-shot deportation challenge and is leaving his fate in the hands of federal immigration officials. In what his lawyer calls a "last gasp" move, he is asking to return to his old life in upstate New York under supervision instead of being deported to Pakistan. Mahmood's legal troubles started when he decided to take a snapshot near a picturesque reservoir during the jittery weeks after the 2001 terror attacks. A suspicious guard posted at the water supply called police. The young pizza deliveryman from Pakistan was eventually charged — not as a terrorist, but on an immigration law violation. Mahmood's resulting detention and fight against deportation has attracted national attention and roused neighbors around his adopted Hudson Valley hometown into activism. His fight has become a symbol to critics who believe federal authorities overreacted after the terror attacks. Now that fight appears to be near an end. "I have no choice," Mahmood said in a phone interview from the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility. "Otherwise, I sit here too long — maybe one more year — and then they still send me back. With this, maybe (there is) some chance." Mahmood came to the United States in 2000 after receiving a green card in an immigration lottery. He eventually settled in the old river city of Hudson, about 100 miles upriver from New York City, and delivered pizzas for a local Domino's. Mahmood worked and did little else — staying on the job for up to 12 hours a day, six to seven days a week, according to his boss and roommate, Shahid Mahmood, who is not related to the prisoner. Mahmood would send a chunk of his earnings back to his family in Pakistan. He also would send them pictures of the tree-topped valley he loved so much. Days after a customer told him about a striking view from a hillside reservoir, he went there with a disposable camera. It was Oct. 9, 2001. A mysterious anthrax death in Florida days before had ratcheted up anxiety levels already spiked by the Sept. 11 attacks. Mahmood said he walked up to a guard posted at what he later learned was a water treatment plant and asked if the guard would take his picture. Police and federal authorities were notified. No terror-related charges were filed against Mahmood, but investigators found he had co-signed an apartment lease and registered a car for a Pakistani couple with expired visas. He was convicted in January 2002 of illegally harboring aliens and later ordered deported. Mahmood was among hundreds of immigrants questioned in those tense times after Sept. 11. The Justice Department (news - web sites)'s Office of the Inspector General reported last summer that 762 foreigners were held on immigration violations after the attacks. Most were deported. Mahmood's case — a legal alien losing his grip on his American dream — garnered national attention. In his hometown, residents upset over his treatment formed the Ansar Mahmood Defense Committee. Some members knew him only in passing as a pizza deliveryman, others not at all. "The more we found out about it, the more it seemed like a caricature of justice," said committee member Robert Elmendorf. "The only thing he did was help out a few friends whose visas had expired." Mahmood's deportation has been delayed by a legal appeal, extending his stay at a detention facility near Buffalo to two years. His lawyer, Rolando Rex Velasquez, said that with chances of winning in court slim, Mahmood has withdrawn his appeal. That would clear the way for deportation. However, Mahmood has asked the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release him through a form of supervised release under which he would check in monthly with the bureau. Granting that sort of request is "somewhat unusual," said bureau spokeswoman Amy Otten. But she said the request will be considered in the coming weeks. To bolster his case, Mahmood's supporters in Hudson have promised federal authorities he will have a home and a job. Shahid Mahmood said he would hire his old worker back in a heartbeat. Supporters are trying to entice politicians to join U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, who has called for Mahmood's release. Mahmood said the aid from strangers helps him face his long days of TV, books and fitful sleep. While his voice strains with emotion as he wonders why he was detained, his desire to stay in this country hasn't wavered. Defense committee organizer Susan Davies said Mahmood still talks about his future in America. "He always says `Someday I'm just going to show up at your door with your pizza,'" said Davies.
