You turn to us for voices you won't hear anywhere else.

Sign up for Democracy Now!'s Daily Digest to get our latest headlines and stories delivered to your inbox every day.

Afghan Asylum Seeker Who Worked with U.S. Special Forces Dies in ICE Custody

HeadlineMar 16, 2026

An Afghan asylum seeker died in ICE custody this weekend, less than 24 hours after being detained in Texas. According to the veteran-led advocacy group AfghanEvac, Mohommad Nazeer Paktyawal worked alongside U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan during the U.S. invasion. He was reportedly arrested Friday outside his home as he got ready to drop off his children at school. Paktyawal lived with his wife and six children in Dallas. He’s at least the 12th immigrant to die in ICE custody since the beginning of the year.

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top