Ayaz Ahmed, Morton Grove father, dies after ICE deportation flight to Pakistan
Ahmed, 61, had chronic health conditions and no criminal record; family and experts question detention standards.
By Matthew Brooks ·
Ayaz Ahmed, a 61-year-old Morton Grove resident, died shortly after arriving in Pakistan following a 38-hour flight chartered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Ahmed had no criminal record and several chronic medical conditions when federal agents detained him in June. His family says they accepted his removal to expedite his return home, but he died before he could reach his relatives.
Ahmed was detained on June 3 in Morton Grove for overstaying a visitor's visa. He was booked into ICE detention at the Clay County Justice Center in Indiana. His children, Jawwad Mehmood and Saleha Sahar, say they alerted ICE officials and the Pakistan Consulate in Chicago to his health issues, including type 2 diabetes. A letter from Ahmed’s doctor listed his multiple chronic conditions and required daily medications.
During his two months of detention, Ahmed was placed in medical isolation after requesting medical attention, according to his son. Sahar said her father told her, “I can’t breathe. I can’t sleep.” The family contacted lawmakers and offered to pay for his plane ticket to speed up the process. Ahmed boarded a GlobalX flight from Fort Worth, Texas, on July 29.
The flight stopped in Maine, Iceland, Bulgaria, and Georgia before landing at a Pakistani Air Force Base on July 30 at 9:41 p.m. Witnesses on the flight said Ahmed’s health deteriorated during the trip. One unnamed witness said Ahmed fell and fainted immediately after deplaning. Another witness said Ahmed urinated himself by the time the plane stopped in Iceland. No medical aid was rendered, according to the family.
Ahmed was brought dead to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad on July 31 at 11:43 a.m., 14 hours after landing. A postmortem report noted no signs of torture or assault. All final reports on the cause of death were handed to Federal Investigation Agency officials in Pakistan. The FIA paid for Ahmed’s burial in Karachi, where he was born, but did not provide further information to his family.
An ICE spokesperson stated that no medical emergencies occurred during the flight and that Ahmed received his scheduled medications. ICE said it has no insight into Ahmed’s care after he was transferred to Pakistani authorities. Former ICE acting director John Sandweg said political pressure to continue removals can force difficult decisions, such as not turning a flight back for medical care.
Ahmed and his children moved from Pakistan to the Chicago suburbs in 1997. For nearly three decades, he owned several local businesses. His family is still waiting for answers from the U.S. government and the Pakistan Embassy. Neither agency has provided a detailed explanation for his death.
