Son and brother of Afghan man who died in ICE custody demand answers

**Family of Afghan Immigrant Who Died in ICE Custody Seeks Answers**

Dallas — The family of an Afghan immigrant who died one day after being taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Texas says they have yet to receive any answers regarding the cause of his death.

Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal, 41, was detained by ICE on March 13 while preparing to take his children to school. He died the following day in a Dallas hospital.

“I just want answers for my dad,” said 12-year-old Imrain Paktiawal, Mohammad’s son, in an interview with CBS News in Richardson, Texas. “That’s it. I want to know why he died. He was healthy.”

Paktiawal, a father of six, is the 12th person to die in ICE custody this year. Last year, 31 detainees died in ICE custody — a two-decade high, according to a CBS News analysis of agency reports and notices.

Naseer Paktiawal, Mohammad’s brother, told CBS News that he received his brother’s body on Tuesday. He recalled the morning his brother was taken into ICE custody. “I received a call from my sister-in-law,” Naseer said. “She said, ‘Some people showed up from nowhere, and they just took your brother.’”

The family received no explanation as to why Paktiawal was detained. “Nothing, they just put him in their car and drove away,” Naseer said. “His kids were screaming, asking for help, asking questions, ‘Who are you guys? Why are you guys arresting my father, my dad?’ No one answered those children.”

In a statement provided to CBS News, ICE confirmed that Paktiawal was brought to the U.S. in August 2021 through an immigration policy known as parole. This policy allows certain immigrants to live and work temporarily in the U.S. on humanitarian grounds. The Biden administration used the parole policy to welcome tens of thousands of Afghans evacuated from Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover.

ICE officials stated that Paktiawal’s parole status was set to expire on August 20, 2025. They also revealed that Paktiawal had been arrested twice last year in the Dallas area on local fraud and theft charges. The Dallas County District Attorney confirmed these arrests but noted that Paktiawal had not been convicted in either case by the time of his death.

One of the theft allegations involved accusations of stealing groceries and other items from a Walmart store, according to the Garland, Texas, police department.

However, Naseer emphasized that these arrests do not present the full picture of his brother’s life. He pointed to Mohammad’s service in the Afghan military, where he fought alongside American forces for a decade before being evacuated to the U.S. in 2021.

“My brother was a wartime hero and a soldier, a warrior alongside U.S. Army,” Naseer said. “He was special forces, operating in the most dangerous places in Afghanistan.”

In contrast, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated in a separate release that it “has no record of this individual serving alongside American forces.”

Naseer, however, showed CBS News documents and a badge he says prove that Paktiawal fought alongside U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. “These are the people my brother was working with — American soldiers in Afghanistan,” Naseer said.

He also stressed that his brother came to the U.S. legally. “He was interviewed, fingerprinted, screened. He did not cross the border illegally,” Naseer said. “He went through the entire system legally, along with his entire family.”

Details remain unclear about what occurred following Paktiawal’s detention. According to ICE, on the night of March 13, Paktiawal was “immediately” taken to Parkland Health & Hospital in Dallas after he began complaining of shortness of breath and chest pains while in an ICE Dallas Field Office processing hold room.

ICE reported that Paktiawal was kept in the hospital for observation. The next morning, while eating breakfast, medical staff noticed his tongue had swollen, prompting an emergency response. Despite multiple life-saving efforts, he was declared deceased at 9:10 a.m.

Naseer said he spoke with his brother by phone on the day he was detained. “The first thing I heard from him was, ‘Naseer, I don’t know where I am right now, and I’m not feeling well,’” he recalled.

“I told him, ‘Okay, let me talk to whoever that officer is.’ He handed the phone to a federal immigration officer,” Naseer recounted.

“I told the officer that my brother needs help, that he’s not feeling good and is in pain. The officer told me, ‘Don’t worry about it. We have a nurse. We will take care of him,’ and then he hung up the phone on me.”

The family still has not received any explanation for Paktiawal’s death. ICE said the death remains under investigation.

“Nobody’s answering me about what happened to my brother,” Naseer said. “Why is he dead?”

Meanwhile, Imrain is struggling to cope with his father’s absence. “He was a good dad. He was a hero, and he will always be a hero.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/son-and-brother-afghan-man-who-died-in-ice-custody-dallas-texas-demand-answers/

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