Afghan translator who worked with U.S. military and his family detained at George Bush airport

Travelers walk through Terminal E at Bush Intercontinental Airport in 2018. A 48-year-old Afghan man who worked as a translator for the U.S. military, and his family were detained at IAH and told they will be returned to Kabul, their lawyer said. less Travelers walk through Terminal E at Bush Intercontinental Airport in 2018. A 48-year-old Afghan man who worked as a translator for the U.S. military, and his family were detained at IAH and told they will be ... more Photo: Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle / Houston Chronicle Photo: Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle / Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Afghan translator who worked with U.S. military and his family detained at George Bush airport 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Mohammad Asif Motawakil has gone through so many security clearances.

There were checks to work as a translator for the U.S. military in Afghanistan. Later, after facing threats, there were checks to qualify for a visa for interpreters coming to the United States. There were checks to board the plane departing for Houston.

But when Motawakil, his wife and their five children arrived at George Bush Intercontinental Airport Thursday, Customs and Border Protection agents suddenly detained the family, threatening them with deportation back to Kabul, where the father would be in danger.

It’s the latest example of airport officials, who have expansive latitude in deciding who can enter the United States, tightening their scrutiny under President Donald Trump’s administration.

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, concurrent security screenings.

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 that someone — apparently in the family — had mistakenly opened, according to lawyers with Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, or RAICES, a legal advocacy group.

A State Department information page tells immigrants not to open their sealed document packet, but does not warn about potential consequences.

Motawakil contacted the refugee organization overseeing his resettlement, who alerted RAICES. Luis Colon, an attorney with that group, tried to speak with Motawakil at the airport Friday, but said customs officers did not allow it.

Texas congressional leaders, including U.S. Reps. Al Green and Sheila Jackson Lee, two Houston Democrats, arrived to press Motawakil’s case.

Customs officers told them his visa had been flagged in Afghanistan and that the U.S Consulate in Kabul had sent Motawakil an email to return to the office, which he never did.

“Apparently the visa was not canceled until he was mid-air,” Jackson Lee said. “When (customs officers) had to check his credentials, it showed there was a problem with the visa for the entire family.”

The U.S. State Department referred questions to Customs and Border Protection. A spokesman for that agency, which under the record-long government shutdown is working without pay, said in a statement that the family was detained after a routine inspection at the airport. He declined to provide further details, citing privacy laws.

Jennifer Quigley, an advocacy strategist with Human Rights First, an international nonprofit, said the government’s explanation didn’t make sense.

“What’s concerning here for us is he wouldn’t have been able to get on the flight if there was something wrong with their visa, or if they needed to address something,” she said. “Once they’re cleared to fly, it’s highly, highly suspect that they say something in Kabul and now we revoke his visa on arrival.”

Motawakil had worked with the U.S. military from 2012-2013 and later with a U.S. contractor. Quigley said he would have endured a rigorous vetting process starting from his employment and throughout the visa approval process until the moment he boarded the plane.

“This is the safest way for anyone to come to America,” she said. “For this to happen now, the CBP justification feels as if they’re trying to rationalize something they did as oppose to it being the real reason behind it.”

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.

Motawakil’s wife and children, including a 6-year-old boy, were freed at 10 p.m. Friday after more than 24 hours in detention.

“They were very tired and confused about what was happening,” said Nisar Momand, who is on the board of directors with the Afghan Cultural Center in Houston and housed the family for the night.

They were released on what is known as humanitarian parole, allowing them to temporarily stay in the United States while Motawakil fights for asylum from an immigrant detention facility in Houston.

His family arrived in San Antonio late Saturday, where they are staying with another Afghan interpreter.

Because their visas have been revoked, they no longer qualify for the refugee cash assistance and other benefits, such as help finding work and learning English, that had already been allocated to them.

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 have drastically fallen.

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.

About another 10,250 Iraqis and Afghans and their family members who qualified for special immigrant visas because they worked with the U.S. military arrived in 2018, just half of those that came through that program in 2017.

“It’s a pretty cataclysmic drop-off,” said Betsy Fisher, policy director for the International Refugee Assistance Project, which sued the federal government last year over the delay in processing these visas for Afghans and Iraqis.

The programs largely have broad bipartisan support, and even Trump’s administration would have included another 4,000 visas for Afghan translators and their families this year in the currently held-up government spending bill.

lomi.kriel@chron.com

@lomikriel