ICE: Don’t deport a student who could be killed in his birth country of Pakistan.

Balal Parveez has nine brothers and sisters, a wife, and two parents who love him — they’re all American citizens. But because of a laeyer’s error from years ago, Balal is the only person in his family who is undocumented.

Now Balal is facing deportation: He’s been held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for eight long months, during which time the former athlete has grown thin and depressed. This week Balal required surgery to remove growths on his chest, and ICE threw Balal back into his cell right after surgery.

Balal’s family is fighting hard to keep him in America. Balal’s sister, Nosheen Dean, went to visit him in Florida last week. She says, “I told him, ‘I promise you I’m not going to let them deport you.’” Nosheen started a petition on Change.org begging ICE to let Balal stay in America. Click here to sign Nosheen’s petition right now.

Balal embodies the idea of a model American. He was brought to the US from Pakistan when he was five. He was a good student, played on his high school football team, went to community college, and married his high school sweetheart. Balal has no criminal record whatsoever.

But Balal first came to the U.S. with his aunt, and the family lawyer mistakenly processed Balal’s immigration case with his aunt’s instead of his parents’. That’s why Balal has spent 8 months in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Florida, 1200 miles from his family in New York. He’s facing deportation to a country that’s foreign to him — a place where he could be killed because of his father’s outspoken opposition to the Taliban.

Balal shouldn’t be in detention in the first place. He clearly fits the new criteria laid out by President Obama that should make him an extremely low priority for deportation. ICE officials need to know that their actions are being watched, and that it is unacceptable for them to rip apart American families.

Please sign Nosheen’s petition demanding that ICE release her brother Balal from detention and allow him to stay with his wife and family in the U.S.:

http://www.change.org/petitions/release-dreamer-balal-parveez-to-his-family-and-stop-his-deportation

Thanks for being a change-maker,

– Jackie and the Change.org team