Afghan asylum-seeker dies in ICE custody, US advocacy group says
(Re-edited to correct spelling of Paktyawal’s first name, Mohommad, in second paragraph and bullet points)
By Joey Roulette
March 15 (Reuters) – An Afghan immigrant who previously worked with the U.S. military in Afghanistan and later sought asylum in the United States died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody this weekend, less than 24 hours after being detained in Texas, an advocacy group led by U.S. veterans said on Sunday.
Shawn VanDiver, president of the AfghanEvac group, said in a statement that Mohommad Nazeer Paktyawal, who lives in suburban Dallas with his wife and six children while his asylum case is ongoing, was arrested outside his home by federal agents Friday morning while taking his children to school. Paktyaval died Saturday of unknown causes, VanDiver said.
Paktyawal, 41, is at least the 12th person to die in ICE custody this year amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration. Last year, 31 people died after being detained by ICE, the highest number in two decades. ICE played a central role in Trump’s mass deportation policy.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, said it needed more time to respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
According to VanDiver, Paktyawal’s family was told that he was taken to a hospital in Dallas the night of his arrest and that he was still alive the next morning but died a short time later.
AfghanEvac called for an immediate investigation.
“It is extremely unusual for a healthy 41-year-old man to die less than a day after being placed in government custody,” VanDiver said.
Paktyawal, a former Afghan special forces soldier who has been with U.S. Army Special Forces since 2005, was evacuated from Afghanistan with his family in 2021 when the United States withdrew its forces after a two-decade war, VanDiver said.
VanDiver said Paktyaval worked at an Afghan halal market in the Dallas area and was the primary source of income for his family, which included an 18-month-old baby. VanDiver said he lives in Richardson, Texas.
The number of people detained by ICE has risen to record levels during Trump’s crackdown on immigration. As of early February, ICE detained nearly 68,000 people.
More than 70,000 Afghans entered the United States under Democratic former President Joe Biden’s Allies Welcome initiative after the Taliban captured Kabul in 2021, according to the Department of Homeland Security. U.S. agencies under the Trump administration have moved to end temporary protected status previously granted by the U.S. government to about 14,600 Afghans on humanitarian grounds and open them up for deportation.
(Reporting by Joey Roulette in Washington, additional reporting by Ryan Jones in Toronto and Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Sergio Non and Will Dunham)
