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American Morning

Mohammed Khan Deported to Pakistan Without Money, Family, Supplies

Aired January 23, 2002 - 08:41   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: In the days after 9-11, a security sweep by the Justice Department netted thousands of men suspected of having links to terrorists. For one of those detainees, the ordeal ended suddenly and unexpectedly with a plane ticket to his original home.

Deborah Feyerick has the story of a man deported and the family he was forced to leave behind.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They were born in America. Faryaal, the oldest, is 10, Palvisha is 8, the youngest, Daniel (ph) is 4, and since the terrorist attacks September 11, they've grown up fast.

FARYAAL KHAN, KHAN'S DAUGHTER: I feel sad because my dad went to Pakistan, and he doesn't live here anymore, and we are going to probably live there.

FEYERICK: Their father, Mohammed Kahn, was kicked out of the country Sunday, deported home to Pakistan with no money and just the clothes on his back. Before boarding the plane, he left a message on the family answering machine.

MOHAMMED KHAN, DETAINEE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) trying to get you on the cell phone. Don't panic, all right. Tell everybody, hi, and I'll contact you from outside and wherever I can. I have no money, and I'm in a desperate situation, but that's OK. All right. God bless you all.

FEYERICK: Khan arrived on a tourist visa 10 years ago, filing for political asylum, becoming a tax-paying resident and overstaying the visa while his case was pending. After the terrorist attacks, Khan was among thousands of men rounded up by the U.S. government.

The INS saying Khan was the subject of an investigative lead. An agency spokesman won't say what the lead was, and Khan says he was never told, even though nothing came of it. Khan says an FBI agent told him they were looking for a different man with the same name.

He has spent the last three months in jail, away from his wife and kids and his job here as a store manager selling electronics. Late Friday afternoon, his lawyer received a fax from INS, Khan's case was over, no political asylum, no appeals left.

ROLAND GELL, KHAN'S LAWYER: They did it as a matter of discretion. They didn't cite any grounds.

FEYERICK: In the letter, INS rescinded Khan's stay of deportation granted by a judge while Khan was appealing saying also there was little likelihood Khan's case would be reopened.

(on camera): An INS spokesman tells CNN Mr. Khan had more than a decade to prove his case and he failed. The spokesman says Mr. Khan did not meet the standard to become a U.S. citizen, and as a result, he was removed from the country.

(voice-over): Khan's choices now, leave his three American kids behind and break up his family or bring them to Pakistan, something he and his wife never Shaheen never wanted.

SHAHEEN AZAM, KHAN'S WIFE: I can't live here without my husband, and my kids don't want to live here without their father.

FEYERICK: Khan's dream, the nice house, expensive furniture and cars, all up for sale now. The children understand bits and pieces of what's happened. They're angry and sad.

PALVISHA KHAN, KHAN'S DAUGHTER: I only lived in America and this house (UNINTELLIGIBLE) I was born.

F. KHAN: I'd miss my school, my friends, all the great stuff you could do here.

FEYERICK: Because they were born in America, the Khan children can return any time they want. When they turn 21, they can even apply to have their parents become U.S. citizens.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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