U.S. Frees Visa-Holding Afghan Family It Detained for 4 Days

http://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/06/us/afghan-family-visa-immigration-detention.html

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SANTA ANA, Calif. — After more than four days in detention, five members of an Afghan family with special immigrant visas were released on Monday, allowing them to travel to the Washington town where they intend to settle.

The father had worked for the American government in Afghanistan for a decade and received the visas based on his work.

Federal officials said that they would meet with the family on April 5 to review their visa documents and that they would be free without “any limitation of their liberties” until then.

“This is a real victory in terms of the government acknowledging that the family does not pose a threat,” said Mark Rosenbaum, a lawyer with Public Counsel, who helped with the case. “But we should have never had to go to federal court to make this happen. This is not a way to thank someone for their service.”

Although the family had completed extensive vetting to receive the visas, Border Patrol officials stopped them on Thursday when they arrived at Los Angeles International Airport, sending the father to a separate detention center from his wife and three children.

The family’s release came just hours before a hearing before Judge Josephine L. Staton of Federal District Court. The judge issued a temporary restraining order Saturday night to prevent the mother and children from being sent to a family detention center in Texas and scheduled Monday’s hearing to discuss the case further.

Although the family’s lawyers pressed Judge Staton to force federal officials to complete the visa inspection immediately, she declined to do so, saying that it was not clear whether the court had the authority and whether it was in the family’s best interest.

Judge Staton ruled that the federal government must notify the court and the family’s lawyers 72 hours before making any change in their case and asked for a report after the April 5 interview.

Lawyers for the family say the father worked at an American military base in Kabul for about 10 years and was repeatedly a target of violence by the Taliban or other Afghan rebels. Lawyers have not released the names, citing potential danger for the family, which includes three sons aged 7 years old, 6 years old and 8 months old.

It remains unclear why Customs and Border Protection agents stopped the family when they arrived. While the father was in detention, officials confiscated his computer and other personal belongings, according to court documents. The family members were released on Monday with their visas and Afghan passports, lawyers for the government said in court.

Joseph Carilli, a lawyer with the Department of Justice, told Judge Staton that a visa did not guarantee entry into the country and that the federal government retains the right to question immigrants further upon arrival.

Special Immigrant Visas were created by Congress for Iraqi and Afghan citizens who help the United States military and government, work that frequently makes them targets in their home countries. Lawyers and advocates for refugees said they had never heard of a case of an immigrant with such a visa being detained in the United States.

“The government here swung and missed,” said Robert Blume, a lawyer with Gibson Dunn, who argued the case in court on Monday. “They should be saying, ‘We made a mistake, thank you and be on your way.’ Nothing about this process has been normal.”