Arrests of Afghan asylum seekers rise across US: report

Lawyers say detainees were complying with ICE rules and awaiting hearings

Arrests and detentions of Afghan asylum seekers have increased across the United States, including individuals who were awaiting immigration court hearings and complying with official requirements, The Guardian reported on Friday.

The development has raised alarm among lawyers and rights groups, who warn that the sudden detentions have created fear and insecurity within Afghan refugee communities.

According to the report, the arrests are no longer limited to routine immigration check-ins. In several cases, Afghan asylum seekers were detained directly from their communities.

In northern California alone, dozens of such incidents have been documented.

One case in Indiana involved an Afghan national who was stopped by an unmarked vehicle while returning from class and subsequently taken into custody. In New York, another Afghan asylum seeker was reportedly detained after voluntarily reporting to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office, as required under the terms of his release.

Lawyers representing the detainees said many of those arrested had been fully compliant with ICE conditions, including regular reporting and, in some cases, wearing electronic monitoring devices. Despite this, they were detained without prior notice or warning.

Attorneys told The Guardian, most of the Afghan asylum seekers who've been detained had requested asylum at the US-Mexico border over the last two years.

"Others have entered under Operation Allies Welcome – a Biden-era program to help resettle Afghans fleeing the Taliban following the US's withdrawal of the US from their country in 2021. Many had been granted humanitarian parole – a temporary legal status that allowed them to live and work in the US while their asylum claims were processed," the report said.

Shala Gafary, managing director of the Afghan Legal Assistance program at Human Rights First, told the publication that the arrests "have created a huge chilling effect".

"People just don't feel safe to leave their home. People are asking all the time what the process is for going to Canada, or going to another country."

The report noted that in the wake of an Afghan man accused of shooting two national guard members, the Trump administration announced major policy changes, radically restricting legal pathways to immigration by pausing asylum decisions for nearly 1.5m people, and halting the processing of applications for green cards, citizenship, or asylum from immigrants from 19 countries.