ICE Deports Chicago Man Who Dies 14 Hours After Landing in Pakistan

Ayaz Ahmed died 14 hours after an ICE-chartered plane landed in Pakistan on July 30. The 61-year-old father from Morton Grove was detained in June for overstaying a visitor visa. He had no criminal history. His family says he suffered from type 2 diabetes and other chronic conditions.

Ahmed spent two months in federal custody before his removal. He was held in medical isolation at the Clay County Justice Center in Indiana. His children, Jawwad Mehmood and Saleha Sahar, said they notified ICE and the Pakistan Consulate of his medical needs. A letter from his doctor outlined his daily medication requirements.

"In his two months of detention, all we witnessed our father do is suffer," Mehmood said. "They put him in isolation because he requested medical attention." Sahar recalled her father saying he could not breathe or sleep. He asked them to send him home.

A GlobalX flight chartered by ICE took off from Fort Worth, Texas, on July 29 at 7:25 a.m. The plane stopped in Maine, Iceland, Bulgaria, and Georgia. It arrived at a Pakistani Air Force Base at 9:41 p.m. the next day. Two witnesses who were shackled next to Ahmed said his health declined during the flight.

One witness said Ahmed lost control of his bladder by the time the plane reached Iceland. Another witness said Ahmed fainted the moment he stepped off the plane in Pakistan. "The moment he fell, he should have been looked upon," the witness said. "All they did was take him.. and put him in the FIA offices."

ICE stated that Ahmed received his scheduled medications during the flight. The agency said no medical emergencies occurred and no signs of distress were observed. A spokesperson added that once a person is transferred to their home government, ICE no longer has custody or access to medical records.

Pakistani authorities brought Ahmed's body to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad on July 31 at 11:43 a.m. The postmortem report noted no signs of torture, assault, strangulation, or hanging. All final reports on the cause of death were handed to Federal Investigation Agency officials.

The FIA paid for Ahmed's burial in Karachi. Neither the FIA nor the medical institute responded to requests for comment. Former ICE general counsel John Sandweg said political pressure to increase removals forces difficult decisions. "If ICE wasn't under this political pressure.. the flight would have turned back to make sure the individual got the medical care he needed," Sandweg said.

Attorney Hashim Siddique, who represented the family, questioned whether ICE had Ahmed's medication during the transport. He noted the lack of identification and belongings at the time of his passing. The family remains in Schaumburg, where Mehmood now manages the mortgage and rent previously handled by his father.

DHS has said its enforcement targets the worst offenders. Ahmed's children argue that narrative did not fit their father. "He was like our warrior," Sahar said. "He lived and breathed for his kids." The family continues to seek answers from U.S. and Pakistani officials.