Afghan military interpreter freed after week in ICE detention

Raices Texas announced Mohasif Motawakil's release on Twitter. Raices Texas announced Mohasif Motawakil's release on Twitter. Photo: Twitter.com/RAICESTEXAS Photo: Twitter.com/RAICESTEXAS Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Afghan military interpreter freed after week in ICE detention 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

An Afghan interpreter for the U.S. military, detained at a Houston airport and threatened with deportation, has been released after a week in custody, advocates and a government spokesman said.

The interpreter, Mohasif Motawakil, 48, who was detained at George Bush Intercontinental Airport Jan. 10 after arriving in the U.S. with his wife and five children, was freed Thursday, his lawyers said.

A spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed the news.

“State Department has reviewed their initial decision, and Mr. Motawakil’s visa has been reinstated and he has been deemed admissible for entry into the United States,” the spokesman said in an emailed statement.

Afghan and Iraqi interpreters who worked alongside American troops can qualify for special immigrant visas granting them residency in the United States if they receive letters of support from American officials and show that their lives are in danger. The process takes years for many applicants, who undergo extensive security screenings.

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Motawakil’s family appears to have raised suspicion in part when he handed customs officers an envelope that was supposed to be sealed containing their medical records. Someone, apparently a family member, had mistakenly opened the envelope, according to lawyers with Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, or RAICES, a legal advocacy group.

“It’s shocking to see the way this administration is treating those who have supported our troops,” Erika Andiola, chief advocacy officer for RAICES, said in an announcement of Motawakil’s release. “The administration is engaged in a systematic attack on all who it thinks do not belong in this country, and this is just the latest evidence of that.”

The detention of Motawakil and his family prompted a flurry of protests, and several members of Congress called for his release.

His wife and family were allowed to leave the airport after more than 24 hours, but their visas were revoked, meaning they would have to seek asylum and would no longer qualify for cash assistance and other benefits already allocated to them, such as help finding work and learning English.

Motawakil’s family arrived late Saturday in San Antonio, where they are staying with another Afghan interpreter. Motawakil was held at Bush Intercontinental Airport for four days, then moved to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Montgomery County for three days before he was finally released, according to William Fitzgerald, with RAICES. Fitzgerald also confirmed that Motawakil’s family’s visas had been reinstated.

“It’s exciting the interpreter has been released,” said Betsy Fisher, policy director of the International Refugee Assistance Project, which sued the federal government last year over the delay in processing these visas for Afghans and Iraqis. “But CBP has a lot to answer for. Why was someone — in danger because they worked for the US. and who secured a visa after years of vetting — arrested and detained with his family on arrival?”

U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, one of those who pushed for Motawakil’s release, said she was “grateful the process worked.”

“America must always stand for human rights and dignity,” Jackson Lee said Friday. “When people sacrifice for the American cause, American values, such as translators in dangerous places, it is important to keep our promise — and our duty to do so. It’s very important to the security of our troops and personnel around the world, and in dangerous places.”

Thousands of Afghans and Iraqis and their families have entered the U.S. on special immigrant visas since Congress enacted The Afghan Allies Protection Act in 2009 and a similar program for Iraq in 2008.

Many face danger from the Taliban and other militants after working with U.S. troops. In 2014, the International Refugee Assistance Project, a nonprofit in New York City, estimated that an Afghan interpreter was killed every 36 hours.

Under the Trump administration, the number of Iraqis and Afghans coming here through these programs has drastically fallen, particularly after Trump in 2017 implemented a controversial ban on immigrants from certain Muslim countries.

Only about four dozen Iraqis were admitted in 2018 through a program Congress created specifically for those employed with the U.S. government or American contractors. More than 3,000 came in 2017.

Another Afghan translator on the same visa as Motawakil was similarly detained when he arrived at Newark Airport shortly after the so-called travel ban was announced in 2017. After more than a year in prison, he was granted asylum in 2018 and released.

On Friday, advocates for refugees said CBP’s actions warranted continued scrutiny.

Jennifer Quigley, an advocacy strategist with Human Rights First, an international nonprofit, said the agency misused its discretion in Motawakil’s case. Special immigrant visa applicants only receive visas only after extensive background checks that frequently last years.

“It’s undermining the years of work the State Department and intelligence agencies have put in vetting these individuals,” Quigley said.

st.john.smith@chron.com