Austin
An Afghan man who worked with US Army and was evacuated by the US authorities in 2021, after the departure of its troops from the country, died this weekend in a migrant detention center in Texas.
Mohammad Nazeer Paktyawal41, had a pending asylum application and lived in Richardson, a suburb of Dallas, with his wife and six children.
In his native Afghanistanworked alongside the US Special Forces for more than 20 years, according to the ONG AfghanEvac.
His arrest took place on Friday morning, outside his apartment, “while he was preparing to take his children to school,” the organization detailed in a statement.
That same day, immigration authorities rushed him to a hospital in the area, where he died on Saturday morning. The cause of his death is still unknown and US authorities have opened an investigation into the matter, according to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
According to the Government’s version, Paktyawal began to suffer chest pain and “difficulty breathing” shortly after being detained, so the authorities took him to the hospital, where he eventually died.
The Government accuses him of having committed “fraud” of the SNAP programwhich provides food subsidies to low-income families. AfghanEvac assured that Paktyawal was not convicted of any crime, nor did he have pending charges with Justice, and requested an “urgent” investigation.
”It is extremely unusual for an otherwise healthy 41-year-old man to die less than 24 hours after being taken into government custody,” the NGO said.
“Mr Paktyawal survived the war in Afghanistan and he trusted America enough to rebuild his life here. His family deserves answers,” he added. Paktyawal’s death is the thirteenth of a migrant in federal custody so far in 2026.
Last year, 30 people died in ICE custody, the highest number in 20 years. under the Donald Trump governmentmigrant arrests have reached record levels: in January, the US detained more than 73,000 migrants, the highest number since the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2001, according to data leaked to the cadena CBS News.
