By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -An Afghan who moved to the United States after working for the U.S. military in his home country was seized by armed, masked immigration agents, put in a van and taken out of state, attorneys and members of Congress said on Tuesday.
Identified only as Zia by members of Congress and his attorney out of concern for his safety and that of his family, the man had worked as an interpreter for the U.S. military during the war in Afghanistan.
He was in the United States legally and was arrested after an appointment in Connecticut related to his application for a green card under a program to protect people who worked for U.S. forces, according to human-rights advocates, his attorney and members of Congress.
Since starting his second term in January, Republican President Donald Trump has pursued a broad crackdown on immigration.
“What happened to him is the worst kind of abhorrent violation of basic decency,” Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut told reporters on a call with advocates to draw attention to the case of Zia and at least two other Afghans who worked for the U.S. and have been seized by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
“He actually worked and risked his life in Afghanistan to uphold the values and rights that are central to democracy,” Blumenthal said.
Blumenthal and two other Democrats, representatives Jahana Hayes, who serves Zia’s district in Connecticut, and Bill Keating, who represents the Massachusetts city where Zia is being held, all pledged to fight for his release.
A judge has issued a temporary stay preventing Zia’s removal from the United States, but he remains in detention.
ALLEGATIONS, DENIED BY ATTORNEY
Asked for comment, the Department of Homeland Security said the Afghan national entered the U.S. on October 8, 2024, and is under investigation for a “serious criminal allegation,” adding, “All of his claims will be heard by a judge. Any Afghan who fears persecution is able to request relief.”
The emailed statement from DHS provided no further details.
Zia’s attorney, Lauren Petersen, said he was approved for humanitarian parole in 2024 due to a direct threat from Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers. She said he has no criminal history and, when asked about DHS’s saying he was under investigation for a “serious criminal allegation,” she said she had no understanding of what they were referring to.
Humanitarian parole is a form of temporary permission under American law to be in the country for “urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit,” allowing recipients to live and work in the United States.
More than 70,000 Afghans entered the U.S. under former Democratic President Joe Biden’s “Operation Allies Welcome” initiative following the Taliban takeover in 2021, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown has included mass deportations and reversing “temporary protected status” granted to people already in the U.S. who cannot return to their home countries due to armed conflicts, natural disasters or other extraordinary events.
U.S. agencies have moved to terminate that status for some 14,600 Afghans.
Shawn VanDiver, the founder of #AfghanEvac, the main coalition of veterans and advocacy groups that coordinated resettlements of Afghans with the U.S. government, said on the call with reporters and lawmakers that he was aware of at least two other Afghans detained after being admitted to the United States because they had worked for the U.S. military.
He said his group, and veterans organizations, were working for their release.
“It’s about whether this country honors its word to those who risk everything,” he said.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle in Washington; Editing by Don Durfee, Nia Williams and Matthew Lewis)
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