KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas father fighting efforts by the U.S. to deport him to Bangladesh was being returned Wednesday from Honolulu to the Kansas City area, even as local members of Congress push legislation that would make him and his wife lawful permanent residents.

U.S. immigration officials put Syed Ahmed Jamal, 55, on a plane bound for his native country Monday before an immigration panel granted a temporary stay in the case. He was taken off the flight when it stopped to refuel in Honolulu, said Rekha Sharma-Crawford, one of his attorneys. She said on Facebook that he was returning to the Kansas City area Wednesday afternoon.

Family spokesman Alan Anderson said the hope is that Jamal will be allowed to stay with his wife, 44-year-old Angela Jamal, and three children in Lawrence, Kansas, under an “order of supervision” while the family fights the matter in the courts, which could take months.