News

A 'patient person,' Mahmood sweeps, sleeps, thinks of Hudson

By Lynn Sloneker

BATAVIA -- "I used to be the pizza man. Now I'm Ansar Mahmood."

It's 3 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon, and Mahmood has already had a busy day. He met early in the afternoon with three members of the Mahmood Legal Defense Committee and another supporter, following a visit with a reporter from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle in the morning. He would see three other members of the Columbia County-based defense committee Sunday.

Seven members of the committee made the five-hour trip through gray skies and snow squalls to participate in a rally outside the gates of the Buffalo Federal Detention Center where Mahmood, 26, has been detained for 26 months.

Mahmood is waiting for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement -- part of the Department of Homeland Security -- to respond to his request for discretionary action granting him deferred action on his deportation and release from detention under an order of supervision. In non-legal terms: He's waiting to learn if he will be permitted to remain in the U.S. and return to his life in Hudson.

As a legal immigrant, Mahmood was working as a pizza deliveryman in Columbia County in October 2001 when he was arrested. He aroused suspicion when he asked to have his picture taken in front of the Hudson water treatment plant. Taken into custody by local police, he was soon cleared of terrorist activities. But a subsequent search of his apartment turned up evidence he co-signed a lease for a Pakistani couple who had overstayed their visas.

Mahmood was charged, and on the advice of his public defender, pleaded guilty to harboring illegal aliens. He was taken into custody shortly thereafter, locked up in Batavia in January 2002, and on July 17, 2002, was ordered deported.

The plight of the Pakistani native and Hudson resident has received international media attention -- stories have appeared in the Washington Post, the Associated Press, Reuters, National Public Radio, the Los Angeles Times and the Guardian (UK), among others.

Mahmood now has the support of U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. 15th, U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y. 22nd, and most recently, U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y. (see sidebar).

At mid-afternoon Saturday the shouting has subsided outside and the rally has drawn to a close. Inside, as he entered the visitor's room, Mahmood is in high spirits and beaming, making a visitor feel welcome, despite the harsh surroundings.