Afghan asylum seeker dies in ICE custody, US advocacy group says | ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
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 (ICE) custody over the weekend, less than 24 hours after being detained in Texas, an advocacy group said Sunday.
Mohommad Nazeer Paktyawal, who lived with his wife and six children in a suburb of Dallas while his asylum case was ongoing, was arrested outside his home by federal agents Friday morning while taking his children to school, according to a statement from Shawn VanDiver, president of the AfghanEvac group led by military veterans.
Paktyaval, 41, died Saturday of unknown causes, VanDiver said.
He is at least the 12th person to die in ICE custody so far this year during the Donald Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. 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.
ICE said in a statement on Sunday that Paktyaval was eating breakfast when medical staff noticed that his tongue was swollen, which required medical attention. He was declared dead only after multiple resuscitation attempts, the agency said.
The agency said it was “committed to ensuring that all detainees live in safe, secure and humane environments.”
According to VanDiver, Paktyaval’s family was told that he was taken to a hospital in Dallas the night of his arrest, 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 taken into government custody,” VanDiver said.
Paktyawal, a former Afghan special forces soldier who has been with the U.S. military’s special forces since 2005, was evacuated from Afghanistan with his family when the United States withdrew its military in 2021 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. Nearly 68,000 people were in ICE custody as of early February.
More than 70,000 Afghans entered the United States during Joe Biden’s presidency as part of the Operation Welcome Allies initiative following the Taliban’s capture of Kabul in 2021, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Federal 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, opening them up for deportation.
