Afghan asylum-seeker dies in ICE custody, US advocacy group says

• Summary

• Mohommad Nazeer Paktyawal, 41, died on Saturday in Texas

• At least 12 people have died in ICE custody this year

• ICE plays a central ​role in Trump mass deportation policy

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 this weekend in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody less than 24 hours after being detained in Texas, a U.S. veteran-led advocacy group said on Sunday.

Mohommad Nazeer Paktyawal, who was living ​in a Dallas suburb with his wife and six children while his asylum case remained pending, was ​arrested by federal agents outside his apartment on Friday morning while taking his children to ⁠school, the group AfghanEvac’s president Shawn VanDiver said in a statement. Paktyawal died of unknown causes on Saturday, ​VanDiver said.

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Paktyawal, 41, is at least the 12th person to die in ICE detention this year under U.S. President Donald Trump’s ​immigration crackdown. Last year, 31 people died after being detained by ICE, a two-decade high. ICE has played a central role in Trump’s policy of mass deportations.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, said it needs more time to respond to a Reuters ​request for comment.

According to VanDiver, Paktyawal’s family was told that he was taken to a hospital in Dallas ​on the night of his arrest and was still alive the following morning, but died shortly after.

AfghanEvac called for an immediate investigation.

“It ‌is ⁠highly unusual for an otherwise 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 had worked alongside 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 war ​lasting two decades, VanDiver said.

Paktyawal ​had worked in the ⁠Dallas area at an Afghan halal market and was the primary provider for his family, including an 18-month-old infant, VanDiver said. He had been living in Richardson, Texas, VanDiver ​said.

The number of people detained by ICE has risen to record levels during ​Trump’s immigration crackdown. ⁠ICE had some 68,000 people in custody as of early February.

More than 70,000 Afghans entered the United States under Democratic former President Joe Biden’s Operation Allies Welcome initiative following the Taliban takeover of Kabul in 2021, according to the Department ⁠of Homeland ​Security. U.S. agencies under Trump have moved to terminate temporary protected ​status previously granted by the U.S. government for humanitarian reasons to some 14,600 Afghans, opening them up to deportation.

(This story has been refiled to correct the spelling of Paktyawal’s first name to ‘Mohommad,’ not ‘Mohammad,’ in paragraph 2)

Reporting by Joey Roulette in Washington, ​additional reporting by Ryan Jones in Toronto and Ted Hesson in Washginton; Editing by Sergio Non and Will Dunham

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Joey Roulette

Thomson Reuters

Joey Roulette is a space reporter for Reuters covering the business and politics of the global space industry, often focusing on space power competition and how commercial interests intersect with international relations. He was part of a team that won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in national reporting for Reuters’ coverage of Elon Musk’s business empire. On the space beat for roughly a decade, Joey previously worked for the New York Times, the Verge, and various publications in Florida.

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