Salma Sikandar, a Bangladeshi mother, faces deportation after overstaying her visa. Connecticut residents rallied at Hartford’s Immigration Court to show their support for the family. Several public officials, including Governor Dannel Malloy and Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, were also in attendance.
Her son, Samir Mahmud, spoke at the rally. He is set to attend Quinnipiac University this upcoming fall.
“I'm going to be a first-generation college student and three days after she's supposed to be deported,” Mahmud said. “Her lifelong dream was to see me go to college and she might not be able to see that.”
Malloy criticized President Donald Trump’s deportation policies and defended the Sikandar’s character.
“I remember the president's original words. They were going after bad hombres. Well there's nothing 'bad' and there's nothing 'hombre' about this family,” Malloy said. “The reality is, we should not be going down this road.”
Sikandar moved to the country in 1999 using a tourist visa and has been fighting her deportation since 2011, when she applied for an exception due to her son’s asthma.
The family is currently waiting on immigration court’s decision on their request to reopen the case. ICE officials have ordered her to leave the country by August 23.
