HOUSTON — An Afghan immigrant whose household mentioned he had been evacuated from his dwelling nation after working for years with U.S. forces died at a Texas hospital after immigration authorities detained him, in response to authorities.
Federal immigration officers referred to as Mohommad Nazeer Paktyawal a “prison” who had been arrested for alleged fraudulent use of meals stamps and for theft. Officers additionally mentioned Paktyawal had not supplied any document of his army service.
#AfghanEvac, a San Diego-based group that helps resettle Afghans who assisted the U.S. through the two-decade struggle, pushed again towards the federal authorities’s claims about Paktyawal, one in every of a number of individuals who have died in current months after being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
“Calling a person a prison and not using a conviction whereas claiming there may be ‘no document’ of service with out checking interagency programs seems much less like fact-finding and extra like harm management,” mentioned Shawn VanDiver, president of #AfghanEvac. “The federal government needs to be explaining how a 41-year-old father of six died lower than 24 hours after coming into ICE custody.”
A reason behind loss of life continues to be pending from the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Workplace. However Paktyawal’s household mentioned he was not ailing.
“We nonetheless can’t perceive how this occurred. He was solely 41 years outdated and was a powerful and wholesome man. His kids maintain asking when their father will come dwelling,” the household mentioned in a press release.
Paktyawal was arrested by ICE on Friday and through his medical consumption examination at a Dallas ICE area workplace, he complained of shortness of breath and chest ache, Division of Homeland Safety spokesperson Lauren Bis mentioned in a press release Monday.
Paktyawal was taken to Parkland Hospital in Dallas and on Saturday, his tongue grew to become swollen and he obtained remedy. However later within the morning, medical workers needed to carry out CPR on him. He was pronounced lifeless at 9:10 a.m. CDT.
“Nobody in ICE custody is denied entry to correct medical care,” Bis mentioned.
His loss of life was nonetheless below investigation, ICE mentioned.
U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson, who on Monday had visited the Dallas ICE area workplace the place Paktyawal was held, mentioned the Division of Homeland Safety and ICE have had a historical past “mendacity and misrepresenting” the background of individuals they arrest or encounter.
“He was not a violent prison, as President Trump likes to say when he’s rounding up these people. He was working as a baker,” mentioned Johnson, a Democrat who represents components of Dallas County. “He was offering for his household and contributing to our financial system. And so we’ve got a number of questions of why was this gentleman focused? Why was he picked up? And why did he die of their custody?”
ICE mentioned Paktyawal had been arrested for committing fraud towards SNAP, the federal government’s largest meals support program, on Sept. 16. ICE mentioned he had additionally been arrested for theft by Garland police on Nov. 1.
A Dallas County District Legal professional’s Workplace spokesperson mentioned there may be an lively case concerning SNAP advantages fraud of $200 or extra, a third-degree felony, towards Paktyawal that had not been resolved.
Police within the Dallas suburb of Garland mentioned Paktyawal was arrested on Nov. 1 after being accused of not paying for groceries and merchandise from a Walmart.
The case in Garland, a misdemeanor, had not but been filed with the district legal professional’s workplace, in response to the spokesperson.
Paktyawal had beforehand served alongside U.S. army particular forces in Afghanistan for a decade and got here to the USA following the withdrawal by U.S. troops and the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban in August 2021.
“The U.S. introduced him right here due to the function Afghans like him performed in supporting the American mission,” VanDiver mentioned.
Paktyawal, who was married, had been dwelling in Richardson, a suburb of Dallas.
Johnson mentioned she had been instructed by his household that he had utilized for asylum and his case was pending. However Johnson mentioned ICE brokers are claiming that Paktyawal had missed his asylum appointments.
Deaths in ICE custody have soared throughout Trump’s second time period.
The company reported 14 custody deaths from the beginning of the federal government’s fiscal yr Oct. 1 by means of Jan. 6, nicely on tempo to surpass the earlier 12-month rely of 24. ICE reported 12 custody deaths within the 2024 fiscal yr and 12 within the earlier three years mixed.
ICE has elevated the variety of folks in its detention facilities to greater than 70,000 from about 40,000 at the beginning of Trump’s second time period. It plans to spend $38.3 billion to spice up capability to 92,600 beds by the top of November, together with transformed warehouses that home as much as 10,000 every.
Related Press writers Elliot Spagat in San Diego, Jamie Stengle in Dallas and Rebecca Santana in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
