Worlds apart
Finding opportunity, and friendship, in Colorado
by Angela K. Evans ANGELA K. EVANS
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s Rezwan Masud walked toward the waiting train, he heard someone come up behind him. Before he could turn, hands covered his eyes. He was startled, unsure of who it could be. After all, hardly anyone knew he was back in the U.S. Rezwan had taken the train in search of halal meat to make a home-cooked meal in his new house in Boulder. The best place he knew was in Aurora, a few hours journey on public transportation just for a taste of home. On the platform, he finally heard the memorable laugh of Shoeb Iqbual, and it made him smile. He turned to see his friend and fellow Bangladeshi staring back at him. Shoeb chastised him for not telling him he was back — he would have picked him up from the airport, taken him to a welcome home meal at his favorite Indian restaurant, driven him to Boulder, done what he could to help. He’d been back a few weeks already, Rezwan explained, sharing how quickly everything came together after his student visa was finally approved. It was months of waiting in Bangladesh, filled with anxiety, as he deferred the start of his PhD program in comparative politics and political theory at the University of Colorado by a semester, and then another. But all that frustration was now behind him. He was back. Shoeb offered to take him to his favorite Bangladeshi store, promising the best halal meat in the Denver area. Then he took Rezwan to his new house, cooked them food and the two spent hours catching up 10
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about all that had taken place in the last year. At first glance, Rezwan and Shoeb have a lot in common. Born only a few years apart, they’re both from Bangladesh, both practicing Muslims, and both immigrated to Colorado in search of opportunity. But in most ways, their stories couldn’t be more different. Whereas Shoeb fled Bangladesh facing political persecution and was held in immigration detention for more than two years, Rezwan first came to Colorado as a Fulbright Scholar studying political science. Shoeb is passionate, a fast talker who easily shares his opinions. Rezwan is more reserved, often waiting to share his thoughts until he’s asked, slow to articulate the depth of his ideas. While Rezwan was confined to Bangladesh, forced to reimagine his future without the U.S. doctorate he’d always expected to receive, Shoeb had quit his job as a wheelchair attendant at the airport and now is a full-time labor-rights activist and MARCH 12, 2020
union organizer. As Rezwan taught political science at a university back home waiting for his visa to come through, Shoeb finally received his permanent residency in the U.S. They were first introduced as part of a research project for a qualitative methods class during Rezwan’s last semester of graduate school at the University of Denver’s Korbel School of International Relations. As part of that research, Shoeb shared his firsthand experience of the asylum process and time in immigration detention, (See News: “Opposite of America,” Feb. 18, 2016.) But now, being in Shoeb’s house, meeting his friends, Rezwan was amazed at how much had changed since he first met his friend. “When I saw that he has a home now, and he has beautifully decorated his room, it was really nice,” Rezwan says. “When I interviewed him and I heard his story, I didn’t imagine [this was possible].” • • • • I
The two met in April 2018, at an anniversary celebration for Casa de Paz, a nonprofit offering short-term housing to recently released detainees and visiting family members near the Aurora Contract Detention Center, operated by the private-prison company GEO Group, Inc. It was the first of many visits Rezwan made to Casa de Paz to research and interview formally detained individuals. In his research notes, he described a warm and welcoming environment that first night, with people from all over the world gathering to celebrate. On a brief tour, he noticed a comment wall describing former detainees’ experiences inside the detention center full of “exaggerations and simplistic generalizations,” he reflected in his class notes. One comment in particular caught his eye. “The dominant party is killing people in Bangladesh.” Rezwan was immediately skeptical. “Seriously,” Rezwan thought to himself. “It was very surprising to me that someone could come this far.” Did someone really travel from Bangladesh to claim asylum? Who was this person claiming such things? Sarah Jackson, the executive director at Casa de Paz, explained that one of their guests was from Bangladesh, and he often participated in the university’s research projects. He’d spent two and a half years in detention before finally winning asylum in early 2017, Jackson told Rezwan. “When I first heard about him, claiming asylum, I thought maybe he did something really wrong in Bangladesh and maybe he was taking BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE
