Outrage as Afghan asylum seeker who fought alongside US dies in ICE custody 

Washington, DC – Advocacy groups are calling for answers after an Afghan asylum seeker in the United States died just hours after being taken into custody by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

The death of 41-year-old Mohommad Nazeer Paktyawal comes at a time when the administration of US President Donald Trump has surged immigration enforcement as part of a mass deportation campaign.

That drive has often touched on the lives of the about 70,000 Afghans evacuated to the US in the wake of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, like Paktyawal, who worked alongside US forces during Washington’s two-year military deployment to the country. Thousands of other Afghans fearing Taliban reprisal have since relocated to the US.

Paktyawal’s family described him as a “loving husband and father” with six children who worked at a halal market and bakery near his home in Richardson, Texas.

In a statement relayed through the AfghanEvac advocacy group, they said he was detained on March 13 as he left to drop his children off at school.

“His children watched as he was surrounded and taken away,” the family said in a statement. “That moment will stay with them forever”.

Less than 24 hours later, they were notified he had been rushed to the hospital, where he died.

“We cannot understand how this happened. He was only 41 years old and was a strong and healthy man,” they said. “His children keep asking when he’ll come home”.

‘Abdication of the duty of care’

For its part, ICE said in a statement that Paktyawal had complained of shortness of breath and chest pains while being processed. He was then rushed to nearby Parkland Hospital, where he was administered care.

The next morning, the agency said, medical staff noticed that Paktyawal’s tongue was swelling, saying: “after multiple lifesaving efforts were attempted, he was declared deceased at 9:10am”.

ICE further described Paktyawal, also known as Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal, as a “criminal illegal alien”, saying he had previously been arrested by “local authorities” for fraud and theft involving food benefits from the US Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

But speaking to Al Jazeera, Shawn VanDiver, the founder of AfghanEvac, said the “criminal” label was meant to distract from Paktyawal’s death. He said Paktyawal was never charged, let alone convicted, following the arrests.

“They don’t say that he was never charged, they don’t say that he was never convicted,” VanDiver said.

“It is not normal for an otherwise healthy, 41-year-old man to die within 24 hours of being brought into custody,” he said. “His death is indicative of an abdication of the duty of care.”

AfghanEvac said that Paktyawal had worked as an Afghan special forces soldier beginning in 2005, working alongside US Army special forces in Paktika province.

The Afghan-American Foundation was among the groups calling for a full investigation.

“Whatever one’s views on immigration policy, a man who served alongside US forces for over a decade, who was evacuated to the US with legal status, who was raising his family here, who was living the life of a neighbor and a dad, deserved to be treated with dignity,” the organisation said in a statement.

“He deserved basic, adequate care. He deserved to survive,” it said.

Hardline immigration policies

Paktyawal’s death comes as rights groups have repeatedly warned of the treatment of immigration detainees in the US, whose numbers have surged amid the Trump administration’s enforcement crackdown.

Immigration experts have said that this has included the increased detention of refugees and asylum seekers, who are otherwise legally allowed to be in the country.

All told, according to the American Immigration Council, the number of people in ICE detention surged during Trump’s first year in office, increasing from 40,000 to 73,000 as of January 2026.

Afghans living in the US, meanwhile, have faced particular scrutiny from the Trump administration.

After an Afghan national shot two National Guard members in Washington, DC, in November 2025, killing one of the soldiers, the administration announced it was pausing the issuance of new visas to Afghan nationals, as well as halting decisions on asylum cases.

Advocacy groups have decried the move as “collective punishment”.

Even Afghans who worked alongside US forces or other organisations – a group that has traditionally had bipartisan support – have not been spared from the hardline policies.

While a court has ordered that Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs), which are reserved for individuals who worked directly in support of the US military, must still be processed by the administration, advocates say the programme has essentially ground to a halt.

The Trump administration has effectively shut refugee pathways for Afghans, curtailing the US refugee programme and instead prioritising white South Africans.

The administration also ended temporary protected status for Afghans, leaving an estimated 11,700 Afghans in the US without protection from deportation, according to the organisation Global Refuge.