CT man faces deportation after alleged assault, coronavirus diagnosis
WASHINGTON — A former Connecticut resident is fighting a second attempt by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement to deport him to Uzbekistan after being held in ICE custody for more than two and half years, his lawyer said.
Bakhodir Madjitov, 39, was told ICE intends to remove him from the country on Tuesday morning, his lawyer Diana Blank of New Haven Legal Assistance said. Madjitov tested positive for coronavirus in July and according to a complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, “is now battling the coronavirus on top of depression and anxiety.”
ICE declined to comment on the existence of any plans to remove Madjitov from the country, Monday. The agency has not stopped deporting immigrants during the pandemic, even at times carrying out the removal of detainees who have symptoms of the virus or have tested positive, multiple news outlets have reported, contributing to the spread of covid-19.
ICE said on its website only detainees with medical clearance are placed on removal flights.
“Any ICE detainee who fails to pass screening by a flight medical provider and/or is suspected of having a health-risk condition potentially contagious to other detainees, staff and/or third parties, will be denied boarding and referred to an ICE approved facility for screening,” ICE said.
On Friday, Madjitov’s attorneys filed a tort claim against ICE alleging members of the agency assaulted
Madjitov in New York while attempting to remove him from the country in 2019 against the orders of an immigration judge. In the complaint, Madjitov of use of excessive force, negligence, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress in violation of his rights. Madjitov also sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to prevent his removal from the U.S.
Attorneys for ICE argued the lawsuit was improperly filed in New York and this court did not have the authority to stay his removal.
A judge in New York denied Madjitov’s request to stay his removal Monday afternoon, Blank said. She said they would pursue an emergency stay from the U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.
Last week, ICE moved Madjitov from Etowah County Detention Center in Alabama, where he has been held a thousand miles from home for the better part of two years, to the LaSalle ICE
Processing Center in Jena, Lousiana, the complaint states.
Madjitov is seeking release to his family of U.S. citizens in Broad Brook, Connecticut. Originally from Uzbekistan, he has never been arrested for or convicted of a crime but has been held in ICE custody since Dec. 2017. He has attempted to secure legal status in the U.S. through many applications and appeals. He believes he will be subject to persecution and torture if he is forced to return to Uzbekistan.
“My family they’re young. My kids they’re young. I want to go back to my family,” Madjitov said in a phone interview with Hearst Connecticut Media in June. “I don’t want to die in detention.”
A few non-profits supporting immigrants rights held a rally outside ICE offices in New York City to object to his deportation on Monday afternoon.