I received this today from a group calling itself "Keep Zahid Home."

Veterans, along with friends and neighbors of disabled US military veteran Spc. Muhammad Zahid Chaudhry will protest outside the Seattle Immigration Court building from noon to 1 p.m. prior to Chaudhry's deportation hearing on Wednesday, Jan. 12. Supporters of Chaudhry are calling on elected representatives to take action to prevent the deportation of the decorated veteran and valued community member.

Chaudhry is a legal permanent resident who served in the U.S. Army and National Guard until he was honorably discharged due to injuries sustained in the military that left him in a wheelchair. Despite his qualified military service and despite being married to a U.S. citizen for ten years, Chaudhry has been forced to resist wrongful deportation to Pakistan and fight for his right to remain in the United States.

In his struggle to remain home with his family, Chaudhry has received letters of support and recommendations for citizenship from U.S. Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, Congressman Doc Hastings, Washington State legislators, as well as from a former immigration adjudicator. His ordeal was profiled in the Yakima Herald Republic in an article that was subsequently picked up by the Associated Press and has been featured in news outlets across the country.

Yet deportation proceedings have continued against him. As a result, friends and neighbors of the Chaudhrys have organized the "Keep Zahid Home" campaign with the intention of making it clear that the Chaudhrys are valued members of the community who should not be forced to leave.

"This is a man who has always come to the U.S. legally and is a legal permanent resident," says Keep Zahid Home organizer Wendy Tanowitz. "Our government has a reputation for not fulfilling its promises to its veterans. The treatment of Zahid Chaudhry, who served in the military until injuries made him no longer valuable and who is now being threatened with deportation, does nothing to improve the government's image."

The Keep Zahid Home campaign calls on elected representatives and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to prevent the deportation of this valued friend and neighbor who has done so much for our country.

Following the Jan. 12 rally, Spc. Chaudhry will attend a master calendar hearing in Immigration Court to determine the status of his deportation proceedings.

For more information, visit www.keepzahidhome.org.