It was a New Britain community celebration as the city residents who own the Pizza Corner restaurant returned from the church sanctuary they had taken while they faced deportation.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) led a festive celebration on October 18th at Pizza Corner with the family, Democratic Lieutenant Governor candidate Susan Bysiewicz, State Senator Terry Gerratana (D-6), Council President Ald. Eva Magnuszewski (D-AL), other dignitaries and numerous city residents.
There had already been an outpouring of support for Malik Naveed bin Rehman and Zahida Altaf, as a rally was held to oppose their deportation in March of 2018.
The couple have been United States residents for eighteen years. After years of effort they were proud to become business owners in New Britain, serving the community pizza at their prominent location at 36 Broad Street.
Also in March, the City Council unanimously approved a resolution opposing the deportation, and all fifteen members of the Council signed a letter asking that their deportation be reconsidered.
The Council resolution said that the family is, “being sentenced to deportation because, upon moving to the United States, their lawyer did not work to get them an extended visa and a path to citizenship, despite paying more than $6,500 to the lawyer.” The resolution added that, “the lawyer was sent to jail for fraud.”
Frank Gerratana photo.
At that time, Ald. Magnuszewski said, “This beautiful family lives in our city. They have a business in our city; they have a beautiful little girl who was born here. They took the right steps to become citizens and they all deserve to stay in our country.”
After the couple went into sanctuary at the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme because of a March 19, 2018 Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation order, Sen. Blumenthal, Ald. Magnuszewski and other members of the Council gathered with other community members to encourage people to continue to buy from the family’s business.
