SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 27: A Pakistani national from Gujranwala has died of heart attack while waiting for his deportation in a New Jersey prison, press reports here said.
Shehzad Tanveer, 42, who came to the United States about 13 years ago, was believed to be worried about his financial predicament awaiting him in his hometown.
A friend of the deceased, Shahbaz Muighal, said Federal Bureau of Investigation and immigration officials went to Mr Tanveer’s apartment in Brooklyn, New York, on Aug 3, searching for Adeel, a student who had changed his university without notifying the authorities.
Since all the other residents in the apartment were green card holders, the immigration officials took away the passports of Adeel and Mr Tanveer and ordered them to appear at the Federal Plaza building on Aug 11.
When they appeared before immigration officials, Adeel was released while Mr Tanveer was incarcerated for immigration law violation.
Mr Tanveer, who had married a Latino woman about six months ago, had applied for adjustment of his status. However, the immigration judge turned down his application, declaring that his marriage was fake, and ordered his immediate deportation. He was moved to a detention centre in New Jersey.
His friends say that his deportation proceedings had put him under stress. He had a seven-year-old son and a four-year-old daughter from an earlier marriage in Pakistan. His body was sent to Pakistan by Edhi Trust.