A Bangladeshi-born chemistry professor, who narrowly avoided deportation after a last-minute stay order, has returned to Kansas City.
Syed Ahmed Jamal was brought to Kansas on Wednesday afternoon. He is currently being held at Platte County jail.
The chemistry professor, facing deportation for visa infringements, had lost an appeal at an immigration court in Kansas on Monday.
He was already on a flight to Bangladesh when he was granted a last-minute stay by the Board of Immigration on Tuesday. He was taken off the flight when it stopped for refueling in Hawaii.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement have not yet announced whether they will release him back to his family in Lawrence, Kansas.
“ICE has 100% discretion in this case and we hope it reconsiders its position,” Jamal’s attorney Rekha Sharma-Crawford said at a press conference on Wednesday evening.
According to his brother Syed Hussain Jamal, Jamal still appears to be in shock and very emotional about seeing his wife and children.
His attorney said the Board of Immigration’s final ruling can take several months, and it will be a sheer waste of taxpayers’ money to keep him behind bars till then.
“He has a family here, a valid work permit, and he has been reporting to ICE for the past six years under the order of supervision. He is not a flight risk,” she said.
Jamal was arrested by immigration officials on January 24 as he stepped out of the house to drop his daughter off at school in Lawrence.
In the last 22 days, he has been detained in at least four different places, including at the Platte County jail.
While it’s still not the same as having him home, his family is somewhat relieved that he is being held at a nearby facility now and they can visit him.
“We are asking ICE to do the right thing, and let him be with his children,” said Syed Hussain Jamal.
All three of Jamal’s children — 7, 12 and 14 — are US citizens and his wife has a medical condition that limits her mobility, making him the sole provider for the family.
His deep ties to the local community have triggered a groundswell of support for him. A campaign to stop his deportation has now generated more than 100,000 signatures on the petition website Change.org.
US Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins from Kansas has moved a “private bill” to grant the professor and his wife legal permanent status.
Jamal came to the United States in 1987 to attend Kansas University on a student visa and went on to obtain graduate degrees in molecular biosciences and pharmaceutical engineering.
Later, he worked on a H1B visa for highly skilled workers at the Children’s Mercy Hospital but transitioned again to a student visa to pursue a doctoral program.
According to documents filed by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Jamal overstayed his visa and was asked to leave voluntarily in 2011.
His failure to depart triggered an automatic deportation order.
Since 2012, the DHS had allowed Jamal to remain in the US on orders of supervision, meaning he had to report on a regular basis to ICE offices, where he was issued temporary work authorization cards.
At the time of his arrest, he was on a temporary work permit, teaching chemistry as an adjunct professor at Park University in Kansas City and conducting research at a few local hospitals.
Saturday, July 19, 2025
