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  "path": "/post/207799/afghan-refugee-us-military-dies-ice-custody",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-16T14:00:28.000Z",
  "site": "https://newrepublic.com",
  "tags": [
    "Breaking News",
    "Politics",
    "Republican Party",
    "Donald Trump",
    "Immigration",
    "ICE",
    "Arrest",
    "Immigration Detention",
    "Afghanistan",
    "Afghanistan Withdrawal",
    "refugees",
    "Afghan refugees",
    "Military",
    "American military",
    "CBS News",
    "Operation Allies Refuge",
    "claimed",
    "significantly increased",
    "stopped paying",
    "Zeteo",
    "webpage",
    "being choked to death"
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  "textContent": "An Afghan man who worked with the United States military for more than a decade was dragged away from his two children at the preschool drop-off line. A day later, he was dead.\n\nMohammad Nazeer Paktiawal was detained by federal immigration agents in Richardson, Texas, Friday while dropping off his two children at preschool, according to his brother, Naseer Paktiawal, who spoke to CBS News.\n\n“He was arrested in front of these kids while taking them to school at seven in the morning. Some people surrounded him, put him in the car, and drove him away while they were screaming, asking for help,” Naseer Paktiawal told CBS News.\n\nBefore emigrating to the United States in 2021, Paktiawal was a member of the Afghan special forces who was hired by the U.S. government. He worked with them for more than a decade. “He was a hero to his family, to his people, and to his country,” his brother told CBS News.\n\nAccording to ICE, Mohammed Nazeer Paktiawal was “paroled into the U.S. by an immigration officer,” or granted temporary permission to enter the country under Operation Allies Refuge, an evacuation effort for allied Afghan nationals that took place under the Biden administration. ICE told CBS News, however, that Nazeer Paktiawal had provided no record of his military service. His parole had expired in August 2025, the agency said.\n\nICE claimed that he had previously been arrested for SNAP fraud and theft.\n\nThe evening of his arrest, in the processing room of ICE’s Dallas field office, Paktiawal complained of shortness of breath and chest pain. He was then transferred to Parkland Hospital, where he received treatment and a doctor bade him to stay for observation. The next morning, medical staff observed that his tongue had become swollen. Later, after cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other lifesaving measures, Paktiawal was declared dead.\n\n“All I want,” said Naseer Paktiawal, “I want justice for my brother. I don’t need anything else from this government.”\n\nThe number of detainee deaths at ICE facilities has significantly increased as nearly 70,000 people are currently held in detention and the agency has stopped paying for health care altogether.\n\nICE has repeatedly failed to disclose information about detainee deaths, according to Zeteo.\n\nAs of Monday, ICE’s detainee death reporting webpage only lists two deaths in 2026. But ICE has published press releases documenting nine deaths since the beginning of 2026—a year that began with one detainee being choked to death by a guard.",
  "title": "Afghan Refugee Who Helped U.S. Military Dies in ICE Custody"
}