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Samir Mahmud will start his freshman year at Quinnipiac University differently than most students will. His mother, Salma Reza Sikandar, is facing possible deportation back to her home country of Bangladesh.

Mahmud’s mother overstayed her 1999 tourist visa but eventually filed a hardship application to remain in the country because of her son, an American-born citizen, according to NBC Connecticut.

Mahmud is preparing for his freshman year, but can’t imagine starting the next chapter of life without his mother by his side.

“My parent’s, like many incoming QU freshman, are there [to] support [me],” Mahmud said. “I couldn’t imagine my mother not being there for me during my first years of QU.”

Once news of the Mahmud family became public, they were connected with Manchester Mayor, Jay Moran. After the meeting with Moran, the Mahmud’s are hoping to also speak with New Haven Mayor, Toni Harp.

The future first-generation college student is focused on reaching out to anyone within the government to hear his family’s story, as Mahmud continues to be an untiring advocate for his mother.

He wants them to “look at my parents in the eye/face and hear our story and then look at why they shouldn’t deport her,” Mahmud said in a Facebook interview with Q30 News.

Mahmud’s mother had a scheduled visit to the Hartford Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) where they told her she had to leave the country she has called home for the past 18 years.

At the moment there are two active cases for Mahmud’s mother to stay in the U.S. Robert Wang, the family’s immigration attorney, said they are now asking the Board of Immigration Appeals to reopen the case. He said ICE has the discretion to let Mahmud’s mother stay until the appeal is heard, according to the New Haven Register.

ICE has ordered Mahmud’s mother to return to Bangladesh by August 23, 2018, four days before her son begins his college career at Quinnipiac University and only a week before his eighteenth birthday.

On August 7 at 4 p.m., there was a press conference in front of ICE headquarters in Hartford, Connecticut. The Mahmud family was in attendance.

Q30 News reached out for a statement from the University, in regards to the Mahmud’s situation.

Lynn Bushnell, Vice President for Public Affairs said, “several people on campus, including our vice president for admissions, Greg Eichhorn, have reached out to him to see how we may best assist him and his parents.”

Updated June 24, 2019 at 8:00 p.m. 

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