Afghan man who worked as interpreter for US Army detained by ICE in San Diego
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — An Afghan man who once helped the U.S. military abroad is being held in ICE detention after his arrest Thursday.
It's part of a recent wave of federal courthouse arrests in San Diego and across the country.
Cellphone video obtained by FOX 5/KUSI shows federal agents as they approached the asylum-seeker moments after his first hearing and repeatedly asked him for his name.
The man, who was accompanied by his attorney, refused to answer and agents proceeded to handcuff the man in the hallway of the federal courthouse in downtown San Diego before producing a warrant.
The man stated that he worked with the U.S. military in his home country and has documents to prove it.
His attorney, Brian McGoldrick, confirmed his client was an interpreter for the U.S. Army for three years before the 2021 Taliban takeover.
'He and his brothers had a logistics company in Afghanistan, and they provided a lot of material,' McGoldrick said.
Word of the arrest sent shockwaves through AfghanEvac, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to helping Afghan allies.
'Every message they're sending to Afghans is we don't want you here, get out, which is wild and especially considering how many Veterans care about this. Because if they get sent back, they're dead,' said Shawn VanDiver, President and Founder of AfghanEvac.
VanDiver said the man's wife was previously threatened by the Taliban at a wedding where one of his brother's was murdered.
'So, he fled to Iran. Got to Brazil on a humanitarian visa and walked here from Brazil,' VanDiver added.
'The whole world is watching what's happening with these folks. How is anybody going to stand by us again?' VanDiver said.
Meanwhile, McGoldrick is keeping his client's name confidential for safety reasons, but said he has a pending Special Immigrant visa, no criminal record and was legally paroled into the U.S.
'He finally got an appointment with CBP One and he presented himself at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, I think July 6 of 2024,' said Brian McGoldrick, immigration attorney for the Afghan asylum-seeker.
He said a judge denied the government's motion to dismiss the case.
'The government simply used a statue that allows them to say that his Notice to Appear was improvidently issued,' McGoldrick said.
'That means that the Notice to Appear would've been mistakenly issued,' explained immigration attorney Saman Nasseri.
He explained the approach is becoming more and more common in immigration court.
'The way that they've been justifying arresting people at these hearings is they're dismissing terminating the notices to appear, putting people in expedited removal proceedings,' Nasseri said.
However, McGoldrick said when he asked for more information regarding the Notice to Appear and reasoning behind the request for case dismissal, the government's attorney refused to elaborate.
McGoldrick said he hadn't been able to speak with his client while he's detained in Otay Mesa. He explained that he could remain in custody for months until his asylum hearing in September.
'It's really ICE's discretion to hold him or not,' he added. 'We don't have a relationship with Afghanistan that allows us to return immigrants. It's kind of scary to think that if he were put in expedited removal where would he go?'
FOX 5/KUSI reached out to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for comment but have not heard back.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
9 minutes ago
- Fox News
Wesley Hunt defends Trump's move to restore Robert E. Lee's name to military base
All times eastern Fox Report with Jon Scott Fox Report with Jon Scott FOX News Radio Live Channel Coverage WATCH LIVE: Failed senate candidate Beto O'Rourke joins Senator Bernie Sanders on the 'Fighting Oligarchy' Tour
Fox News
9 minutes ago
- Fox News
Multiple countries evacuate Mid-East embassies as Israel strikes another Iranian nuclear facility
All times eastern Fox Report with Jon Scott Fox Report with Jon Scott FOX News Radio Live Channel Coverage WATCH LIVE: Failed senate candidate Beto O'Rourke joins Senator Bernie Sanders on the 'Fighting Oligarchy' Tour
CBS News
9 minutes ago
- CBS News
Teen boy killed in fiery multi-vehicle crash in Pompano Beach, 5 others hospitalized, BSO says
A teenage boy is dead and five people were hospitalized after a fiery crash involving multiple vehicles in Pompano Beach on Friday night, authorities said. Just before 8 p.m., the Broward County Sheriff's Office responded to a multi-vehicle crash and car fire near 200 West Copans Rd. According to investigators, the preliminary investigation revealed that a 2019 Mercedes-Benz CLA 250, which a 16-year-old boy drove with a 17-year-old female passenger and three 17-year-old male passengers, was traveling west on West Copans Road and approaching Leisure Boulevard. Meanwhile, a 2021 Toyota Sienna, driven by an 82-year-old man, was traveling south on Leisure and approaching West Copans. BSO detectives said that at some point, the Sienna turned left when it collided with the Mercedes. The collision caused the teenage boy to lose control of his car, which rolled onto its roof as it slid southwest across the road and into eastbound traffic, colliding with a 2015 Lexus RX 350. Also, BSO said a 2021 Toyota RAV4 was traveling east on West Copans and was struck by debris as the Mercedes slid by. BSO deputies at the scene began life-saving measures until Pompano Beach Fire Rescue arrived and took all the Mercedes' occupants and the Lexus' driver to the hospital for treatment. However, the 16-year-old boy died at the scene, BSO said. BSO said the Sienna and RAV4 drivers were not injured and remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators. According to BSO, detectives said excessive speed may have been a contributing factor, but the circumstances surrounding the crash remain under investigation.
