Abdul Wasi Safi was trying to reach his brother, who immigrated legally to Houston after helping the U.S. military. Legal experts say Wasi may have to serve a criminal sentence before he can pursue asylum.
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Just three months later, the U.S. abruptly exited the country. The Taliban — an Islamic fundamentalist group — took control of the country and began hunting down those who had helped the Americans. When it was clear Wasi could not get a visa, he went into hiding with his parents and eight other siblings before setting out on a harrowing journey halfway around the world that led to a jail cell more than 12,000 miles from his home.
The war claimed the lives of more than 3,000 U.S. military personnel and roughly 70,000 civilians. And the Taliban reemerged swiftly as the U.S. handed over the reins of government and security to the Afghans. "We view members of Afghan special forces as part of our community," Patterson said. "We’ve been looking at finding paths to citizenship for them, looking at the federal level, but there’s not as much energy on [Capitol Hill] to get these things passed that we’d like to see."In his Houston home, Sami-ullah Safi shows a group photo from his brother’s Indian Military Academy class.
Even after that, he kept going back. But he was turned away and watched from outside the airport as the final military U.S. flight took off. Sami, who had received U.S. citizenship in July 2021 after six years of living in Texas, knew he needed to help his brother reach the U.S. He paid more than $1,000 to get Wasi a visa to enter neighboring Pakistan.
Wasi said he prayed at each checkpoint, fearful that his past as a special operations commando would be discovered. But the guards bought his prescription drug story and never used the biometric system to check him. They crossed through Colombia and into the infamous Darién Gap, a 60-mile stretch of roadless jungle where vulnerable migrants are often preyed upon by gangs, cartels and paramilitary forces in the area. Many die along the way from snake bites, exposure to the elements or drowning.
When the truck stopped, Wasi said the smuggler opened the back, then shook them down for clothes, valuables and money. The truck left. After a stranger approached and pointed them toward the border, Wasi and the other migrants began walking in the dark.Abdul Wasi Safi stands in the foreground of Afghan military vehicles surrounded by dirt-filled barriers and concrete bunkers. Wasi, who helped the Afghan military fight the Taliban, left the country fearing for his life.
But Mexico has to agree to take them. Currently, the only countries whose citizens Mexico has agreed to accept under Title 42 are Venezuela, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Afghanistan isn’t on the list. "I think my brother is the first in my whole tribe to be in chains, ever," Sami said after attending his brother’s detention hearing. "It was very difficult to see him like that. He’s not a criminal. Why are they treating him like he has done something wrong?"
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