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Q30 News sat down with Samir Mahmud last Monday to discuss his mother, Salma Sikandar’s,  visa being extended by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, otherwise known as ICE.

News broke in July 2018 that a Quinnipiac freshmans mother was facing possible deportation back to her home country of Bangladesh. ICE ordered Salma’s deportation because she overstayed her tourist visa. At 17 years old, Samir worked with public officials and the press so his mother could stay in America. His efforts led ICE to extending Salma’s visa for another year. On Aug. 27, 2018, Salma brought her son to school.

“They wanted to make sure I went to college because that’s something they’ve never been to. They wanted to see their first generation college student go to school,” Samir said.

Having his mother by his side on his first day of school didn’t seem like it’d ever become a reality.

The Mahumd family is grateful for all the help they have received over the course of this year and while Samir’s mother was able to send her son off to college, their families fight is far from over. The family is now working to get Salmas’s visa renewed, that way she can stay past this year and gain citizenship.

“Me, my parents, a bunch of lawyers and organizations throughout Connecticut are going to try and win this case, so my Mom and Dad can finally be full on citizens in the country that they’ve been in for 25 years.” Samir said.  

With his mother safe for now, Samir expressed that the public can extend the same help they gave to his family, to the many other people around the country in similar situations.

“The best the public can do is just pray, and just stay together and to just fight for the others hiding in the shadows,” he said.