Nearly two months after he was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) despite having no criminal record, Kansas dad and professor Syed Ahmed Jamal has been freed from immigration detention by a federal judge:
Jamal has been held at the Platte County jail, cut off from his family except for Sunday visits behind glass. He did not attend the hearing. The government blocked his appearance, arguing the federal court had no jurisdiction over his detention. The government lost that argument.
Jamal's wife, Angela Zaynaub Chowdhury, spoke for her husband Tuesday.
"I have so many people to thank, the whole community," she said.
It was nearly a month before Jamal and his family could see each other after his Jan. 23 arrest, and even then, they only got to wave at him through a window. More than 100,000 people signed a petition calling for his release, and while he’s now reunited with his family, ”Tuesday's ruling does not keep Jamal from being deported”:
U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins, a Kansas Republican, has introduced a so-called private bill that would grant permanent residency to Jamal and his wife, who also is Bangladeshi. Such bills affecting a specific party rarely pass.
But, gaining his freedom is an important development. Jamal was shuffled between five different detention centers, and at one point, he was on a plane for deportation when another judge’s order pulled him off at the very last minute.
“More than 100 supporters packed the courtroom, overflowing into a nearby one where a video feed of the proceedings was shown,” reported the Kansas City Star. “U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark's courtroom erupted in applause shortly after she left the bench.” KSHB:
Ketchmark ruled Tuesday she has jurisdiction to decide whether ICE can detain a person and whether an indefinite detainment impacts due process rights. Ketchmark said she can't decide anything specific to Jamal's deportation status.
Ketchmark felt Jamal's detention from 9/11/12 to 11/6/12 added to his detention from 1/24/18 to 3/20/18, paired with six years of supervision in between, amounted to more than enough time in “detainment.”
Ketchmark said Jamal is not a danger to the community, has no criminal record, and his three children mean he's not a flight risk.
She ordered ICE to release Jamal immediately.
“I am pleased to hear that Mr. Syed Jamal will be able to spend some much needed time with his wife and children but this is far from over,” said Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II, who introduced the private immigration bill with Congresswoman Jenkins. “A federal judge released Mr. Jamal from a Missouri County detention center today but he still faces deportation.”
“The current immigration system is broken and affects families who have responsibilities and deep ties to their communities,” he continued. “We must fix these laws that criminalize hard-working, contributing members of society like Mr. Syed Jamal and that’s what I plan to push for in Congress.”