HOUSTON — An Afghan soldier trying to get U.S. asylum who was detained for months after staying arrested whilst hoping to cross the Mexico border has been freed from immigration detention and reunited with his brother, his attorney reported Wednesday.
Abdul Wasi Safi’s release from custody in Eden, Texas, came following a judge dropped an immigration charge against him at the request of federal prosecutors.
Wasi Safi fled Afghanistan pursuing the withdrawal of U.S. forces in August 2021, fearing reprisals from the Taliban due to the fact he experienced provided U.S. forces with facts on terrorists whilst working as an intelligence officer for the Afghan National Stability Forces. In the summer of 2022, he started a treacherous journey from Brazil to the U.S.-Mexico border, the place he was arrested in September in the vicinity of Eagle Go, Texas. He experienced hoped to sooner or later be reunited with his brother, who lives in Houston.
On Monday, a federal decide in Del Rio, Texas, dismissed the federal immigration cost following prosecutors experienced filed a movement asking her to do so “in the desire of justice.”
Zachary Fertitta, a single of his felony defense lawyers, reported Wednesday that Wasi Safi is acquiring medical care at an undisclosed spot but that he prepared to speak at a information convention on Friday in Houston.
Fertitta explained Wasi Safi and his brother “are overjoyed to be reunited.”
Jennifer Cervantes, an additional of Wasi Safi’s immigration lawyers, mentioned before Wednesday that she envisioned him to be transferred from U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She mentioned ICE would very likely interview him but has no reason to maintain him in custody, especially presented that the FBI has already spoken to him and identified no challenges.
“He’s absolutely not a hazard to the United States. He’s finished a whole lot of excellent service for the United States,” Cervantes reported.
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Houston Democrat, belongs to a bipartisan team of lawmakers that has been doing the job to free of charge Wasi Safi. She reported in a assertion Tuesday night that she expects him to get there in her hometown by Friday.
The Division of Homeland Safety, which oversees Customs and Border Protection and ICE, has not responded to an electronic mail trying to find remark Wednesday.
Sami-ullah Safi, Wasi Safi’s brother, was utilized by the U.S. army for various years as a translator. Sami Safi claimed he is happy the legal scenario has been dropped but that he remains annoyed about how his sibling has been dealt with in light of his family’s aid for the U.S in Afghanistan.
“If we categorize my brother’s service, how quite a few lives he has saved because of his service and how several life I have saved mainly because of my provider being a battle translator?” Sami Safi stated.
Wasi Safi’s scenario was very first described by The Texas Tribune.
On his journey from Brazil to the U.S., Wasi Safi suffered severe accidents from beatings, which includes damaged front enamel and hearing loss in his appropriate ear.
“We are now performing on his wellbeing condition, which has turned major immediately after months of neglect,” Zachary Fertitta, 1 of his legal protection lawyers, said in an email Wednesday.
The lawyers, lawmakers and navy corporations that have been operating to cost-free Wasi Safi say his scenario highlights how America’s chaotic military services withdrawal proceeds to hurt Afghan citizens who aided the U.S. but were being left driving.
Virtually 76,000 Afghans who worked with American soldiers considering that 2001 as translators, interpreters and companions arrived in the U.S. on navy planes right after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. But their immigration standing continues to be unclear immediately after Congress failed to go a proposed law, the Afghan Adjustment Act, that would have solidified their authorized residency position.
Cervantes mentioned Wasi Safi’s circumstance is not exceptional and that other Afghans searching for asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border have also faced trouble having their scenarios effectively reviewed. She stated she hopes her get the job done “sheds some mild on that and (assists) these guys get what I consider is the appropriate matter to do, what I believe is fair for them.”