Bangladeshi US scientist not deported, but freed

Syed A Jamal, a Bangladeshi-origin US chemist studying and working in Kansas for 30 years, has been freed from jail, according to kansascity.com.

The 55-year-old chemist was arrested by ICE in his front yard on 24 January for overstaying his visa and he was about to be deported to Bangladesh, reports say.

Jamal walked out of Platte County jail Tuesday, so suddenly and quickly that no family was there, wrote kansascity.com. He was reportedly greeted instead by waiting reporters. His family joined him later.

Jamal's release came hours after it was ordered by a US District Court judge in Kansas City, pending the outcome of his deportation case with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the report.

"It's a tough situation," he acknowledged, though he appeared relaxed and confident.

The judge took into account more than 110 days Jamal has served in jail since 2012.

Referring to Jamal's three US-born children, she said, "I made a promise to those kids to bring their dad home."

His latest permit extended to October 2018, but that allowance was rescinded by ICE when agents arrested Jamal outside his home on the way to taking his daughter to school, said the report.

Jamal's story went viral after friends and family launched an online petition for a stay of his deportation, the report recalled.

The Change.org site had reportedly garnered 108,000 as of Monday. Since 2 February, a GoFundMe campaign has raised nearly $75,000 for the family, for whom Jamal is the sole breadwinner.