WASHINGTON, March 23: A prominent Pakistani advocacy group is urging the Pakistani community to help prevent the deportation of a legal immigrant who has been in detention for over a year.

Ansar Mahmood, a Pakistani green-card holder and Dominos Pizza deliveryman in Hudson, New York, was taking pictures in the Catskills mountains, asked a security man to take his photo without realizing that a hydro plant was in the background.

This was October 2001. Mr Ansar was immediately called to return to the store, where US authorities were waiting for him.

After hours of interrogation regarding his political affiliations and associations in Pakistan and the United States, he consented to a search of his apartment.

There authorities found documentation that led to the discovery of an illegal Pakistani couple.

Mr Ansar was charged with harbouring illegal aliens, an aggravated felony, which would result in his deportation upon conviction.

The NCPA urged all “conscientious Americans” to contact their elected representatives and request them to speak on Mr Ansar’s behalf.

The Washington Post and other American newspapers have written forceful editorials urging the government to release Mr Ansar.

The NCPA asked American citizens, particularly those of Pakistani origin, also to request their local politicians to write letters to the INS on this issue.