Dramatic moment 'Afghan interpreter who helped US troops' is apprehended by ICE in San Diego
The video, obtained by NBC 7, showed the unnamed man calmly telling officers in San Diego that he served alongside American forces in one of the most 'dangerous parts' of Afghanistan.
ICE agents placed him under arrest as he was taken into custody inside a San Diego federal courthouse.
The interpreter's attorney, Brian McGoldrick, said the man fled Afghanistan in the chaotic aftermath of the US withdrawal and entered the US through the San Ysidro Port of Entry using the now-defunct CBP One app.
He was granted humanitarian parole and is currently applying for a Special Immigrant Visa.
'While he was in Afghanistan, he was threatened repeatedly. His family was threatened repeatedly,' McGoldrick told the outlet.
'He believes that if he returns, he'll be detained, probably tortured and possibly even killed.'
ICE is reportedly now trying to fast-track his deportation by dismissing his asylum case and placing him in expedited removal proceedings.
'They want to deny him even the opportunity to have his asylum case heard by having his case dismissed, McGoldrick said. '… Putting him into expedited removal and trying to spirit him out of the country.'
The man remains in custody as of Friday, and his fate is unclear at this time.
In the video, his voice is steady but somber as he tells agents: 'I came here to make a better life.'
He said he worked in a 'very dangerous part of Afghanistan.'
'He just came here trying to get asylum for what he did for our country,' McGoldrick said. 'And this is how we're treating him.'
In 2021, another Afghan interpreter who was living in Iowa claimed to be facing deportation and lost contact with the Department of Homeland Security for giving a piece of bread to the Taliban when he was a child.
Zalmay Niazy served in the US military as an interpreter from 2007 to 2014 in Afghanistan before returning to the United States.
Niazy has been living in Iowa since and was seeking asylum. He was asked about previous interactions with the Taliban during an asylum interview.
I said, 'I can't hide that, I can't lie about it, and yes, I did,' Niazy said of the interview during comments on Tuesday on America's Newsroom.
Niazy then claimed he received a letter from DHS, saying they would no longer speak to him because of his interaction with the Taliban all those years ago. He also says his asylum application was denied.
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