LEILA FADEL, HOST:
As part of its aggressive immigration policy, the Trump administration has been making it harder for asylum-seekers to stay in the U.S., and that includes at least one immigrant seeking safety here after helping the U.S. military in his home country. NPR's Quil Lawrence reports.
QUIL LAWRENCE, BYLINE: The scene of ICE agents arresting immigrants at courthouses has become common in the past few months, but this one played out a bit differently last week in San Diego.
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UNIDENTIFIED ICE AGENT #1: Yeah, yeah, go ahead. We're going to take him.
LAWRENCE: Bystanders filmed as Sayed Naser was approached by two masked ICE agents after a routine immigration hearing. They don't show a warrant, and they don't even seem to be sure they have the right person.
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UNIDENTIFIED ICE AGENT #2: What's your name?
LAWRENCE: As they handcuff him, he starts to tell the onlookers that he's a former interpreter for the U.S. Army.
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SAYED NASER: I worked with the U.S. military back in my home country, Afghanistan.
LAWRENCE: Sayed Naser asked to withhold his family name because he fears for their safety in Afghanistan. And that's the whole point, says his lawyer, Brian McGoldrick.
BRIAN MCGOLDRICK: He spent three years working with the U.S. military at great risk to himself. And they've already killed part of his family.
LAWRENCE: Sayed Naser fled Afghanistan after the Taliban showed up at a family wedding and killed one of his brothers. He made a journey from Afghanistan to Brazil and then, sometimes on foot, traveled north to the U.S. border, where he was admitted legally last year. But McGoldrick says ICE agents took none of that under consideration.
MCGOLDRICK: Was all about filling their quota of 3,000 a day. They didn't care that, you know, he was really our ally. I don't think anybody took the time to even go through that.
LAWRENCE: ICE confirmed to NPR that Sayed Naser is in custody but didn't answer other questions. Sarah Verardo is with the advocacy group Save Our Allies. Her husband, Mike, was severely wounded in Afghanistan. In fact, President Trump hosted the Verardos at the White House just this April to honor that. But Sarah Verardo says seeing Afghans like Sayed Naser arrested is another wound.
SARAH VERARDO: And so much of the moral injury that we see among veterans now has really resurfaced with these issues of how we've abandoned our Afghan allies. And the Trump administration has an opportunity, while they do pursue strong immigration reform, to also say that as a nation, we stand with those who stood with us.
LAWRENCE: So far, there's no sign the Trump administration will shield Afghan allies from the immigration crackdown.
Quil Lawrence, NPR News.
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