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On March 13, multiple Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in unmarked vehicles surrounded Mohommad Nazeer Paktyawal in front of his home in Texas as he prepared to drive his children to school. The 41-year-old father of six children, who had served alongside the 3rd Battalion of the U.S. Army Special Forces in Afghanistan, died in ICE custody the next day, leaving his family in shock, and U.S. veterans of prior Middle East wars outraged.

According to a statement issued by ICE, Paktyawal was transported to a hospital on March 13 after complaining of shortness of breath and chest pains. Paktyawal’s wife says she told officers during the arrest that he uses a rescue inhaler for asthma, but his death the following day remains under investigation. Shawn VanDiver, a Navy veteran and founding president of #AfghanEvac, a group that advocates for refugees of the U.S. war on Afghanistan, said Paktyawal was healthy before ICE agents arrested him in front of his children on a school day.

“But one fact is clear: it is not normal for a healthy 41-year-old man to die within a day of being taken into government custody,” VanDiver said in an email to reporters on Monday. “Mr. Paktyawal survived our war in Afghanistan and trusted the United States enough to rebuild his life here.”

According to #AfghanEvac, Paktyawal joined the Afghan special forces in 2005 and fought alongside U.S. Army Special Forces for years in Paktika Province, one of the most dangerous areas of Afghanistan, during the U.S. occupation. When President Joe Biden ordered a chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces in August 2021, the U.S. evacuated Paktyawal and his family along more than 124,000 Afghans who assisted the U.S. and faced reprisals from the Taliban, the militants who fought the U.S. for years before taking control of the country.

“His family deserves answers,” VanDiver said. “The American public deserves answers. The U.S. service members who fought alongside Afghan partners deserve answers.”

Iranian Dies in ICE Custody as Trump Administration Bombs Iran

At least 41 people have died in ICE custody since President Donald Trump returned to office and launched a brutal crackdown on refugees and immigrants, and at least 12 have died in ICE custody in 2026 alone. In comparison, about 26 people died in ICE custody during all four years of the Biden administration, which worked to reduce the population of ICE’s detention system during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In contrast, the number of people jailed by ICE while they wait to see an immigration judge has skyrocketed from under 40,000 on any given day to roughly 70,000 under Trump’s policies. Civil rights groups, lawmakers, and families report medical neglect, inedible food, and other........

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