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Deported former Frisco student says he plans to return to U.S.

12:49 AM CST on Thursday, January 13, 2011
By JESSICA MEYERS jmeyers@dallasnews.com


Saad Nabeel has decided to come home – whether it's legal or not.

The former Frisco student, whose deportation to Bangladesh in 2009 spurred an outcry, has vowed to return by his 20th birthday next week.

Also Online Read more about Saad Nabeel
Nabeel said encounters with police and his family's political ties left him feeling too vulnerable to live in Bangladesh. He started college in Malaysia last month, but said he faces greater threats there. The school condones terrorist activities and has links to al-Qaeda, he said.

A Dallas businessman helped Nabeel leave the university last week. He said he wants to fly the young man back to the U.S., where he will request political asylum. Nabeel could receive a harsh punishment for attempting to return but refuses to consider anything else.

"I'd rather be detained in America than in a class where they say 9/11 shouldn't be considered an act of terrorism," he said from a hideout near the university. "Not getting home is not exactly an option for me."

But getting back into the U.S. may not be an option either. Ralph Isenberg, the Dallas man assisting Nabeel, wants the Department of Homeland Security to grant Nabeel entry into the country so he can seek asylum.

"It is done," said Isenberg. "[Immigration authorities] know all the tricks in the book when they want to help somebody."

Officials from the patchwork of agencies under Homeland Security's auspices contend it doesn't work that way.

"We don't get to say, 'Yes you and not you,' " said Yolanda Choates, a spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which determines entry into the U.S. "We look at the appropriate documents and see that the person meets all inspection requirements."


Waiver needed

Nabeel must remain out of the country for the next decade unless granted a waiver. The State Department denied him a student visa in June to study at Southern Methodist University.

He may apply for humanitarian parole from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, but that serves short-term emergencies and takes up to 120 days to receive.

Isenberg said Nabeel doesn't have the time. "The kid is buried," said Isenberg, who has turned into a vocal immigration-rights advocate. "He is really in trouble there. I understand he will be detained. We're just trying to get him to a safe harbor."

Technically, Nabeel can't even board an airplane to the U.S. without documents approving his entry. If that remains the case, Isenberg said, he will fly Nabeel to Mexico on a tourist visa and watch him apply for asylum at the border.

Customs and Border Protection officials say they weigh cases individually and can't speculate on what could happen to Nabeel if he chooses this option. Deportees who return during their bans risk extending them or landing in jail.


Facebook page

Nabeel's supporters continue to advocate loudly for his return. A Facebook page dedicated to his situation now tops more than 5,600 members. The Rev. Peter Johnson, a Dallas civil-rights activist, has launched a public effort pressuring immigration authorities.

Nabeel arrived in the U.S. as a toddler along with his parents, who sought political asylum and never received it. He grew up in North Texas munching at Taco Bell and cooing to Taylor Swift . He was studying electrical engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington when authorities deported him.

Nabeel finds himself among the thousands of deported youths who claim one land legally and another one mentally. He receives daily calls now from a security guard hired to protect him. He spends hours drumming up support on the Web and reading about immigration issues. He keeps a countdown to his birthday.

"There were days, weeks, months that I wished I wouldn't wake up in the morning," he said, "because being in a coma would have been better than waking up in a world where I had no friends, no place to go, no one to talk to but myself. Now it's not a matter of 'if' anymore. It's a matter of 'when.' "

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