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Altadena woman who fell prey to immigration scam is ordered released from ICE detention
Masuma Khan fell victim to a green card scam years ago. Now, the Altadena mom awaits her fate in an ICE detention center.
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Courtesy Riya Khan
)
On Wednesday, a judge ordered the immediate release of Masuma Khan, a 64-year-old Altadena resident who immigrated from Bangladesh in 1997 and fell victim to an immigration scam. She was detained at her regular check-in appointment last month.
“ I'm happy. I'm excited. During the hearing, I was a little emotional, teary eyed,” Khan’s daughter, Riya Khan, told LAist while driving from the Fresno courthouse to California City, where her mother is being held. “Once I see her, then I think I'm going to be even more emotional and my real feelings are going to finally come out.”
The judge also granted the temporary injunction order Masuma Khan’s lawyers requested, meaning immigration agents cannot deport her while the case is ongoing.
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How we got here
When Masuma Khan came to the US to look after her 9-year-old daughter who was suffering from kidney failure, she was scammed by a "very, very friendly" Bengali man who promised to secure her green card.
"My mom, she spoke very little English at the time, and she had zero knowledge of how the immigration system works," Riya Khan previously told LAist. "My mom is a very naive person. She tends to trust people easily. She is extremely friendly."
Scammers target South Asian immigrants, advocates say, because of their limited English and tendency to trust their own community.
Masuma Khan and her family later would find out this man created a false identity for her, Nur Jahan, and filed a case on her behalf seeking asylum. He also created a fake passport she never saw, Riya Khan said.
"All the notices, all the letters that came from [U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services] went to his address," Riya Khan said.
When the asylum application was denied, he advised Masuma Khan to lay low. She would only realize she had a deportation order on her case when she tried to gain U.S. citizenship through her husband, who immigrated to the U.S. in 1999. Since then, she has worked with multiple attorneys to become naturalized. Starting in 2020, USCIS has required her to appear for annual check-ins.
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This year under the Trump administration’s ramped up immigration enforcement, she was detained.
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But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.
We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.
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