Former Austin imam facing deportation, family says (Austin American-Statesman)

Former Austin imam facing deportation, family says
Shiite Muslim leader detained in Dallas fears retribution by Sunnis if returned to Pakistan.

By Eileen E. Flynn, Patrick George
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Sunday, April 06, 2008

A former Austin imam whose interfaith work made him one of the most recognized Muslim leaders in Central Texas is being held at a Dallas detention facility and faces deportation to Pakistan, according to his attorney and family.
Imam Safdar Razi, who led the Northwest Austin Shiite mosque the Islamic Ahlul Bayt Association for six years, has been detained by the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency since Wednesday, said Karen Pennington, an immigration lawyer in Dallas who is representing Razi.
Razi's wife, Safiya Razi, said her husband was taken into custody at their home in Plano on Wednesday morning.
Pennington said she is not sure why Razi was being held by the immigration agency, which is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. While in detention, he was issued a notice to appear for removal proceedings, essentially a hearing for deportation, Pennington said.
Razi has lived in the United States since 2000, Pennington said, and moved his family here from Qatar.
He is seeking political asylum in the United States because his religious worker visa was turned down, Pennington said.
He hasn't lived in Pakistan since he was a child, she said.
Pennington said deportation to Pakistan would be disastrous because Razi, a known Shiite scholar, would be a target of violent extremists from that country's majority Sunni branch of Islam.
"Based on the situation in Pakistan, sending him there would be a death sentence," Pennington said. "Shiites are killed there with near impunity, and his interfaith work would almost certainly make him a target."
Officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not respond to phone and e-mail messages from the American-Statesman on Friday and Saturday.
"We are not illegals; we are seeking asylum," Safiya Razi said.
"It's hard," she said. "We don't know what's going on with our family."
Razi had been working in Dearborn, Mich., over the past year in a job he left Austin to take. But because of visa complications, he returned to Texas.
A couple of months ago, he and his family were taken in by members of the Institute of Islamic Learning in Metroplex, which is in Plano, said Asif Effendi, one of the mosque's directors.
Effendi said Razi called the mosque Thursday to request food because the detention center was serving pork, which Muslims avoid for religious reasons.
When members of the mosque tried to bring food, phone cards and money to Razi, a guard told them that there was no such prisoner, Effendi said.
On Friday morning, Razi called again.
"Please bring me something," Effendi said he asked in a tired voice. "Please bring me water. I haven't eaten in two days."
Effendi said Razi described the center as ice cold with 50 people in one room.
Effendi said the community is devastated by Razi's troubles, especially because Razi is known for his preaching of tolerance and respect among all faiths and because he had followed the necessary procedures to stay in the United States legally.
"We are perplexed" because Shiites who follow Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Iraq are supporting U.S. efforts there, Effendi said.
Sistani is a revered Muslim scholar whose influence over Shiites helped quell some of the violence after the U.S. invasion in 2003.
Razi, who, like many Shiites, follows the rulings of Sistani, is certified to interpret Islamic law and advise people on issues such as divorce and marriage.
Pennington said it makes no sense for the government to treat a representative of the ayatollah this way.
In Austin, officers of Razi's former mosque called an emergency meeting Friday night to brainstorm ways to help Razi, said Ali Akhtar, a member of the Ahlul Bayt Association.
"He's the prime example of the type of Muslim leader that we want here in the U.S.," Akhtar said.
"It's really just baffling to me why there would be such a hurry to get him out."
eflynn@statesman.com; 445-3812