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Afghan man who worked as interpreter for US Army detained by ICE in San Diego
Afghan man who worked as interpreter for US Army detained by ICE in San Diego

Yahoo

time14-06-2025

  • Politics
  • Yahoo

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.

Despite dismissal new hearing set for Guatemalan man arrested by ICE in New Bedford
Despite dismissal new hearing set for Guatemalan man arrested by ICE in New Bedford

Yahoo

time10-05-2025

  • Yahoo

Despite dismissal new hearing set for Guatemalan man arrested by ICE in New Bedford

NEW BEDFORD – The Guatemalan man whose violent arrest in New Bedford by ICE was caught on video faces a new hearing though the case was dismissed May 8 when the Dept. of Homeland Security failed to submit a charging document. Attorney Ondine Galvez Sniffin represents Juan Francisco Méndez, 29. He was pulled from his car April 14 after ICE agents smashed in a window to his car, which was caught on video by his wife, Marilú. Sniffin has said Méndez has no record and it may have been a case of mistaken identity. His wife has asylum status which provides him with legal benefits that they had been working on obtaining prior to the arrest. Sniffin said standard procedure was followed May 8 by Judge Donald Ostrom in U.S. Immigration Court in Chelmsford when he dismissed the case after the government failed to provide the charging document. But, she said, the judge 'in his wisdom' continued a bond hearing where Méndez could be released on bail to May 15 anyway in case there was a 'glitch,' and Méndez was still in jail at that time. That glitch materialized on May 9. Sniffin said Méndez should have been released after the May 8 dismissal. She tried contacting the Dept. of Homeland Security on May 9 to arrange the release but didn't get a response. By that afternoon attorney Ryan P. Sullivan, who also represents Méndez, had filed a motion for immediate release with U.S. District Court Judge Joseph N. Laplante for the District of New Hampshire. It was denied. Sullivan had previously filed a habeas petition with that court and Judge Laplante ordered immigration officials to provide 72 hours notice before transferring Méndez anywhere. The judge denied the motion to release on May 9. The government had argued it hadn't been given an opportunity to counter argue, Sniffin said. They said the May 8 hearing wasn't valid because it was held under Méndez's incorrect identification number, or A for alien number. It's used by Immigration until a person becomes a citizen. Sniffin added, 'Mind you, it was their mistake.' A new hearing has been scheduled for May 22 back in U.S. Immigration Court. However, there's still the continued bond hearing on May 15. Sniffin said she called the court and tried to get the cases combined. They said no. They said one was a bond hearing, and the other was to determine if there's a case. 'So we're going to confront the same garbage' that they confronted May 8. 'DHS still has not filed a charging document for the May 22 hearing. They did the same thing again. They just asked the court to schedule a hearing. It's scheduled and they have not filed a charging document again,' she said. Méndez is not charged with anything, she said. 'They're holding him without having filed a single document.' He is still being held by the Strafford County Dept. of Corrections in Dover, N.H. She hopes their argument will be heard May 15 and remove the need for a May 22 hearing, but she doesn't know. She said the maneuvering seemed retaliatory. 'This is what you get for opening your mouth. That's what I think they're doing. They're punishing my client because this got media attention nationwide,' Sniffin said. An ICE spokesman referred requests for comment to the U.S. Dept. of Justice, which has not responded. This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: New hearing set for Guatemalan man arrested by ICE in New Bedford

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