A former US national guard honorably discharged soldier has been apparently served by the US immigration authorities a “Notice to Appear,” a/k/a: NTA which is a charging document issued by the government to all deportable or removable aliens including lawful permanent resident or "green card" holders (collectively known as “respondents”) with a list of alleged grounds for deportation or removal and in our jargon called “deportability” or “removability.”
This is what Yu, South & Associates just learned from reliable sources and it was also reported by a local newspaper "Yakima Herald" this past Friday, October 30, 2009. According to the public information of this news report, the respondent in this case is a 36-year old Pakistani immigrant living in Yakima, Washington and the article left out too many important details that would be critical for an accurate account of the true events and many essential questions unanswered, except for the following:
The 36-year old Pakistani respondent’s name is Muhammard Zahid Chaudhry and is now living in Yakima, Washington, with his US citizen wife named Ann. Chaudhry first came to the US in 1998, on a tourist visa, and joined the National Guard as a soldier 3 years later. It appeared that he got injured during the initial training phase in the military but the article did not explain why he was finally discharged 5 years later, with honor but without disability (because he is now trying to apply for the disability).
The US immigration authorities are trying to deport him that raised a lot of attention from many sectors, from politicians to veteran groups. Most of the supporters are saying that the man did all these good things for this country and therefore should be treated differently. However, based on the very vague suggestions of the article, the following could be possible grounds as his deportability:
- Authorities are saying Chaudhry misrepresented his criminal history in Australia when he applied at the US Consulate overseas for his original tourist visa to the US;
- Chaudhry misrepresented his background (probably the criminal record) when applying for the National Guard;
- Chaudhry misrepresented himself in his volunteer fireman job application at the city’s fire department of Yakima; and,
- Chaudhry misrepresented himself as a US citizen at this same application with the city fire department, among other allegations by the US immigration authorities.
This case is in progress and for sure going to be a high profile case that is bound to draw lots of attentions from all possible sides. Yu, South & Associates believes that we need to know the whole story before giving any predictions about the final fate of Chaudhry, but, with that said, if the above allegations were true, Yu, South & Associates is of the opinion that Chaudhry has a very tough war ahead because any single such offense as alleged could be a solid ground for deportation under the current immigration laws, especially the false claim to US citizenship that is defined as “statutory ground” for deportation. We will watch this case closely to bring to you the latest development as it does challenge both the US immigration law and the public policy when it comes to the possible deportation of an honorably discharged former US soldier with a US citizen wife.
If you want to know more about this ongoing case in progress or have any questions relating to deportation or removals as well as any other US immigration related matters, you can send your comments or questions via email directly to Yu, South & Associates at:
You can also click this link provided here for the original story reported by Yakima Herald: http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2009/10/30/10-30-09-muhammad-chaudhry
Yu, South & Associates, Where YOU Matter the Most.