BLUMENTHAL STATEMENT ON RELEASE OF AFGHAN INTERPRETER FROM ICE CUSTODY

[Hartford, CT] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal today released a statement following the release of Zia S., an Afghan interpreter who was arrested by masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in July after a routine biometrics appointment for his Green Card. 

“Zia was finally able to return home to his loved ones after his unlawful, unconscionable detention by ICE. Zia put his life on the line to aid our troops during the conflict in Afghanistan, he—and all of our wartime allies who worked with our servicemembers—deserve our unwavering protection. I am heartened by his release yesterday, and I will continue fighting to ensure he has a clear pathway for permanent legal status to bring him and his family safety and certainty,” Blumenthal said.

After over two months in unlawful detention, Zia was released from ICE custody Tuesday evening and has been reunited with his family in Connecticut.

Zia worked as a translator and cultural advisor contractor for American forces at Camp Mike Spann in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan. His youngest brother was also an interpreter, marking their family as pro-American and a target of violent retaliation by the Taliban. Zia has no criminal history and traveled to the United States using an approved humanitarian parole visa and travel documents issued by the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan. He has received Chief of Mission approval in his Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) case and has a pending Green Card application.

On July 16, he was seized by masked ICE agents outside a USCIS service center in East Hartford, Connecticut, where he had his biometrics taken as the first step in the processing of his Green Card application. In ICE detention in Massachusetts, Zia was immediately issued an Order of Expedited Removal based on the false claim that he entered the U.S. illegally and without documents. A Federal judge has temporarily stayed Zia’s removal.

In August, Blumenthal traveled to Plymouth County Correctional Facility, the ICE detention center where Zia was being held, to meet with him and affirm his strong support for efforts to secure his release and permanent residency.

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