NEW YORK — Mohammed Howlader is a tailor, out of work, and, in some ways, without a country. He is in the U.S. illegally.

What You Need To Know

  • The Trump administration has obtained an order to deport tailor Mohammed Howlader, forcing him to wear an ankle monitor

  • He says he fled gang violence in his native Bangladesh and sought asylum, but the judge denied his plea for asylum due to Trump’s policy changes

  • Immigration attorney Edward Cuccia says the Trump administration made it much tougher for someone to get asylum when fleeing gang violence

  • Howlader's case is on appeal, and Cuccia believes if Biden reverses Trump's asylum policy related to gangs (as expected), he will have a much better chance of winning

The Trump administration has obtained an order to deport Howlader and he has to wear an ankle monitor until it can.

Still, he says he’s devoted to the United States.

“God saved me because this a beautiful country. It’s great country. I love this country, brother," said Howlader. "I can’t explain to you, but this country saved my life."

He and his attorney believe his chances of being able to stay will improve once President-elect Biden is inaugurated next week.

He says politically connected gangs in his home country of Bangladesh were shaking him down for money he couldn’t pay, so they beat him up and looted his store. Fearing for his life, he fled, first to Mexico and then to his ultimate destination, the U.S. 

Three years ago, he crossed the border and sought asylum.

“If I go my country that time, they kill me. They’re looking 'till now," Howlader said. "Sometime they come to my house, they ask my mommy, 'Where's your son? Where's your son?'”

“Before Donald Trump, there’s a good chance his case would have been granted,” said Howlader's attorney, Edward Cuccia.

Cuccia said the judge denied the plea for asylum, explaining she had no choice because of Trump’s policy changes.

“Gang violence is no longer a ground for asylum. No longer’s a strong word — he made it much, much, much more difficult,” Cuccia said of Trump and his then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Because Howlader’s case is on appeal, he's not in any immediate threat of being deported.

For now, he’s working as a janitor in the Darul Uloom Islamic Education School in Jamaica, Queens in exchange for room and board.

“I don’t have money, nothing,“ said Howlader, “My boss they give me this, my home, no charge. They give me food, too.”

The tiny room where he sews is also where he sleeps, awaiting his next hearing on his appeal.

Like hundreds of thousands of other undocumented immigrants in the U.S., he's hopeful Biden with reverse Trump's asylum policies.

“If they give me a green card, I [will be] grateful to this country forever and ever,” he promises.

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