In his first month again in workplace, President Donald Trump has raised alarms for Afghan allies within the U.S. who’ve spent years unsuccessfully in search of asylum or everlasting residency after the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan. The BBC has reported that Afghans have already been deported, and are among the many 299 migrants residing in a Panamanian lodge with out entry to authorized illustration.
Nasib, a former Afghan intelligence officer, was detained two weeks in the past throughout an everyday check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). I spoke with Susan, the immigration lawyer representing Nasib. (Pseudonyms are getting used to guard each in opposition to retribution.)
In her observe, Susan has helped a whole bunch of Afghans search security within the U.S. Nasib turned her consumer in February 2024, simply weeks after he claimed asylum on the border with Mexico and was paroled into the U.S.
Nasib served 13 years in Afghan navy intelligence, coaching alongside American personnel and dealing intently with worldwide companions. Based on Susan, he saved many American lives. In a letter of advice shared with Purpose, a U.S. intelligence skilled assigned to mentor Nasib praised his important work and known as him “reliable and dependable.”
Nasib’s work put him squarely within the sights of the Taliban, who started focusing on their enemies whereas seizing management of the nation in the summertime of 2021 and have continued their marketing campaign of reprisal unimpeded.
To keep away from a ugly demise, Nasib and his brother tried to flee the nation by way of Kabul’s Hamid Karzai Worldwide Airport in August 2021. They have been outdoors Abbey Gate on August 26 when an ISIS-Ok suicide bomber detonated explosives, killing 13 U.S. service members and 170 Afghans. Nasib’s brother misplaced an arm, was hit by shrapnel in his neck, and now requires surgical procedure that may solely be carried out outdoors the nation.
Fearing that the Taliban would discover and kill him, Nasib needed to steer clear of his household dwelling, staying with family members and mates for a number of days at a time to keep away from seize. Throughout his absence, the Taliban visited Nasib’s spouse and youngsters, demanding to know his whereabouts.
Nasib utilized to the Particular Immigrant Visa program however was ineligible as a result of he was an worker of the Afghan authorities. Nasib certified for the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), which is at present suspended as the results of Trump’s January twentieth government order. With no former U.S. authorities worker to refer him to the USRAP, Nasib noticed just one path to security within the U.S. He utilized for a visa to Brazil and have become one in every of greater than 8,100 Afghans who traveled by way of Central America between 2021 and mid-2024 to achieve entry to the U.S. border.
When he arrived in Mexico Metropolis in late 2023, Nasib utilized for an appointment to request asylum with U.S. Customs and Border Safety utilizing the now-defunct CBP One cell app. Three months later, he introduced himself on the border on the appointed time and was allowed into the U.S. on two years of parole.
Nasib settled into American life, discovering a job at a distribution heart that allowed him to ship cash dwelling to his mom, brother, sisters, spouse, and two youngsters. On the finish of 2024, he requested asylum at his grasp calendar listening to and included his spouse and youngsters as by-product candidates on his petition. Given an asylum listening to date within the spring of 2025, Nasib was instructed within the interim to go to his scheduled annual check-in with ICE in February.
With information of the Trump administration finishing up mass deportations of migrants, Susan insisted on accompanying Nasib to his ICE appointment. “I’ve gone to ICE check-ins earlier than,” Susan mentioned, explaining that officers sometimes study an applicant’s papers and inform them to return the next 12 months. Throughout Nasib’s appointment, Susan mentioned she solely noticed two people introduced into the ability and subsequently allowed to go away.
When Nasib was known as, Susan was not allowed to accompany him. Later, Nasib recounted that ICE brokers confiscated his pockets, sneakers, and belt earlier than arresting him with out clarification. The agent didn’t reply to Nasib’s request that he loosen Nasib’s painfully tight handcuffs.
An agent instructed Susan that her consumer had been detained. When she requested why, the agent replied, “Properly, new administration.” Susan instructed the agent that Nasib had parole however was instructed in response that “parole is revoked.” She requested once more what the rationale was for detaining Nasib and obtained the identical reply: “new administration.”
As his household’s solely wage earner, Nasib is anxious about them whereas he stays in detention—however Susan is fearful for her consumer. For 14 years, Nasib has been taking antidepressants, which ICE refuses to offer. Nasib was just lately instructed that he may get counseling, however not for at the least 20 days. With out his treatment, he “is crying on a regular basis,” Susan says.
Nasib additionally can’t entry halal meat or a duplicate of the Quran, which as a working towards Muslim, he’s required to learn all through the approaching month of Ramadan. Susan says it’s unclear how the ICE facility will handle non secular detainees’ fasting necessities throughout Ramadan.
Susan is set to do what she will for her consumer. “Now that he is in detention, it is as much as me to attempt my greatest to get him out,” she mentioned. “It is rather unjust.” As an Afghan ally with no report, Susan insists that Nasib should not be there. “He ought to by no means have been detained.”
