Queens dad gets deportation reprieve for now

NEW YORK (FOX5NY.COM) - Riaz Talukder thought Monday might be one of the worst days of his life because he faced the possibility of having to leave his family and go back to Bangladesh. But he left ICE headquarters in Lower Manhattan crying tears of joy. Just hours earlier, Riaz worried he might not leave ICE headquarters after he walked in.

Flanked by attorney Edward Cuccia and Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, Riaz -- who was brought to the U.S. by his uncle at age 13 -- was told to show up to the meeting with his passport and a one-way ticket to Bangladesh. But instead he was granted a temporary reprieve.

Cuccia said his client doesn't have a criminal record and has been in the U.S. for nearly four decades. He lives in Queens with two sons and wife, who is battling thyroid cancer. He drives a taxi to support the family.

Riaz applied for asylum years ago and was rejected. Since then he has been checking in with ICE regularly. During the Obama administration, a case like his was given low priority. But deportations have increased under President Trump.

​"In an exercise of discretion, ICE placed Mr. Talukder on a continued order of supervision with an understanding that he leave the country on his own prior to May 2018," ICE said in a statement to Fox 5. "The agency will monitor Mr. Talukder's case to ensure his departure in compliance with his final order of removal."

Cuccia said that gives him and his client's family time to file more motions and papers to keep fighting the deportation.