{"id":75662,"date":"2023-06-07T20:20:04","date_gmt":"2023-06-07T20:20:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/06\/07\/afghan-soldier-who-helped-the-us-weathers-uncertainty-in-asylum-bid\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:48:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:48:52","slug":"afghan-soldier-who-helped-the-us-weathers-uncertainty-in-asylum-bid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2023\/06\/07\/afghan-soldier-who-helped-the-us-weathers-uncertainty-in-asylum-bid\/","title":{"rendered":"Afghan soldier who helped the US weathers uncertainty in asylum bid"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">HOUSTON \u2014 The April visit to a Houston clinic was just one of a never-ending assembly line of medical appointments <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2022\/11\/30\/afghan-soldier-sought-asylum-in-us-and-was-arrested-at-texas-border\/\" target=\"_blank\">Abdul Wasi Safi<\/a> has had since his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/afghanistan\/2023\/01\/25\/feds-drop-charges-against-afghan-soldier-seeking-asylum-in-us\/\" target=\"_blank\">January release<\/a> from an immigration detention center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/abdul-wasi-safi-out-of-immigration-detention?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&#038;utm_medium=email&#038;utm_source=customer\">Afghan soldier<\/a>, called Wasi by family and friends, sat in a dental chair and conversed in Pashto with his older brother Sami as Carrie Underwood\u2019s \u201cCowboy Casanova\u201d played in the background. It was a scene thousands of miles from the places he\u2019d been the past two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2022\/11\/30\/afghan-soldier-sought-asylum-in-us-and-was-arrested-at-texas-border\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Afghan-Translator-04.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Afghan soldier sought asylum in U.S. and was arrested at Texas border<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">After risking his life to fight alongside U.S. troops and a harrowing journey to escape the Taliban only to be arrested at the Texas border.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After the U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/afghanistan\/2021\/12\/23\/us-withdrawal-and-afghanistans-next-chapter\/\" target=\"_blank\">withdrawal from Afghanistan<\/a> in August 2021, fear of retribution from the Taliban for sharing information with American soldiers while he was an intelligence officer drove Wasi Safi to flee to Brazil. The goal? Reaching the U.S. and applying for asylum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He eventually made it after crossing 10 countries, but the journey came at a high cost. A brutal beating by police officers in Panama severely damaged his teeth and jaw and left him with permanent hearing loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wasi Safi didn\u2019t appear nervous during his visit to the San Jos\u00e9 Clinic, a facility that serves low income and uninsured individuals. But dentist Michael Wisnoski still reassured him, telling him it was going to be an \u201ceasy day.\u201d He got two fillings but more complicated dental work loomed ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Easy days for Wasi Safi have been few. His mind races with worry about his health. There\u2019s also the uncertainty of whether he\u2019ll be granted asylum. And he feels powerless to help his parents and other siblings, who have been threatened back in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"6674\" height=\"4449\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23148571229049.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"Abdul Wasi Safi, right, and his brother Samiullah pick out food for lunch, Wednesday, April 26, 2023, in Houston.\" class=\"wp-image-106187\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23148571229049.jpg.jpg 6674w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23148571229049.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23148571229049.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23148571229049.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23148571229049.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23148571229049.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 6674px) 100vw, 6674px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Abdul Wasi Safi, right, and his brother Samiullah pick out food for lunch, Wednesday, April 26, 2023, in Houston. (David J. Phillip\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI am scared for my life. I don\u2019t know about my future. I don\u2019t know what this government, what the United States (will) do with me,\u201d Wasi Safi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s fear and frustration <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/afghanistan\/2023\/06\/06\/a-frayed-refugee-system-creates-obstacles-for-afghans-in-texas\/\" target=\"_blank\">felt by other Afghans<\/a> in the U.S. as well as by immigration activists, attorneys and others, who ask that those who were evacuated from Afghanistan receive permanent legal status and those left behind be given a path to safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI do think that our government needs to take responsibility and figure out how to fix it, because these are people who helped us,\u201d said Debbie Berman, an attorney with the Chicago-based law firm Jenner &amp; Block that\u2019s representing Afghans still trying to flee their country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More than 88,500 Afghans who worked with American soldiers as translators and in other capacities since 2001 have arrived in the U.S. on military planes since the chaotic withdrawal, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Most were admitted under a program called humanitarian parole that grants them some legal status, including the ability to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, many others were left behind and some, like Wasi Safi, made their way to the U.S. on their own \u2014 seeking the fulfillment of a promise of protection the U.S. made to its Afghan allies. It\u2019s a promise many feel <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2022\/12\/20\/afghan-refugee-bill-sidelined-again-dashing-advocates-hopes\/\" target=\"_blank\">has been broken<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wasi Safi\u2019s monthslong journey on foot and by boat last year took him through raging rivers and dense jungle to the U.S.-Mexico border, where he was arrested in September and sent to a Texas detention center. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/afghanistan\/2023\/01\/29\/afghan-soldier-seeking-us-asylum-hopes-for-american-dream\/\" target=\"_blank\">With the help of lawyers and lawmakers<\/a>, he was freed and reunited with his brother, who was a translator for the U.S. military and has lived in Houston since 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wasi Safi\u2019s attorneys didn\u2019t return calls or emails seeking comment on his asylum case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His arrest at the border and the expedited removal order that remains in place likely complicate his asylum case, said Alex Miller, with the American Immigration Council, an advocacy group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt just is an incredible uphill battle,\u201d said Miller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wasi Safi and other Afghans seeking legal status in the U.S. are doing so within an already <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/immigration-courts-wait-54bb5f7c18c4c37c6ca7f28231ff0edf\" target=\"_blank\">backlogged immigration system.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/afghanistan\/2023\/06\/06\/a-frayed-refugee-system-creates-obstacles-for-afghans-in-texas\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/azita-and-hamid-ls-tt-10.png.png?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">A frayed refugee system creates obstacles for Afghans in Texas<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The refugee system in Texas and nationally is still recovering from major cuts. The latest casualty is Texas\u2019 largest resettlement agency.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey\u2019re just being added to this pile that the immigration judges are\u201d handling, said Aleksandar Cuic, director of the Immigration Clinic at the School of Law at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Afghan Adjustment Act, a proposed law <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/afghanistan\/2023\/03\/13\/plan-to-boost-visas-for-afghan-allies-isnt-enough-advocates-warn\/\" target=\"_blank\">to streamline their immigration process<\/a>, has stalled in Congress. As of the end of April, only about 8,100 applications for asylum or special visas for Afghans employed by the U.S. government had been approved, according to Homeland Security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wasi Safi was set to plead his case for asylum before an immigration judge in July. But that\u2019s been delayed to December. The postponement was a gut punch for the Safi brothers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEvery time I\u2019m having a piece of hope, they somehow take the hope away from me,\u201d said Sami Safi, 30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wasi Safi\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/afghanistan-allies-visas-withdrawal-taliban-bd1afd617cc809b229c598bc8c744bae\" target=\"_blank\">unresolved immigration status<\/a> has meant he\u2019s not authorized to work. It\u2019s also left him afraid to leave his Houston home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHome is like jail for me. I hope they give me my paper (legal documentation) and I start my life,\u201d Wasi Safi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If home is a cage, the Al-Noor Society of Greater Houston, a mosque in the city\u2019s diverse Gulfton neighborhood, has provided some outside solace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the midst of Ramadan on a Friday in April, the mosque\u2019s main prayer hall was filled with about 200 men and boys, some wearing Houston Astros jerseys or carrying bags emblazoned with the Texas flag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat\u2019s why we come to mosque &#8230; asking God almighty to guide us, in the path of success, in the path of comfort,\u201d Sami Safi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zahoor Gire, Al Noor\u2019s executive director, said the mosque is a place not just for prayer but a resource for many of the newly arrived from Afghanistan and other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Community groups like Al Noor are the ones that help provide long-term support \u2014 including job training and activities for children \u2014 once the initial federal help ends, Gire said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ericka Pertierra, a local businesswoman who\u2019s helped several Afghan families resettle in Houston, has taken on Wasi Safi\u2019s case. Using her fundraising skills, Pertierra gathered money for his lawyers and persuaded doctors and dentists she knows to donate their services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey deserve it. They served our country,\u201d Pertierra said of the brothers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She\u2019s trying to raise more money through a GoFundMe campaign for Wasi Safi\u2019s long-term medical needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On May 23, Wasi Safi turned 27 years old. But eating birthday cake was out of the question due to pain from recent gum surgery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe says, \u2018I\u2019ll celebrate my birthday when I\u2019m feeling better,\u2019\u201d Sami Safi said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A former Afghan intelligence officer who fled the Taliban after sharing information with American soldiers is now in Texas, where his future is uncertain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":106180,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,8,23,93,12,25],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3074],"class_list":["post-75662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"I7MSWPHLVZH63GP7DMUNP7ZWYA","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/afghanistan\/2023\/06\/07\/afghan-soldier-who-helped-the-us-weathers-uncertainty-in-asylum-bid\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Afghan soldier who helped the US weathers uncertainty in asylum bid - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A former Afghan intelligence officer who fled the Taliban after sharing information with American soldiers is now in Texas, where his future is uncertain.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Afghan soldier who helped the US weathers uncertainty in asylum bid\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A former Afghan intelligence officer who fled the Taliban after sharing information with American soldiers is now in Texas, where his future is uncertain.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2023\/06\/07\/afghan-soldier-who-helped-the-us-weathers-uncertainty-in-asylum-bid\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Army Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-06-07T20:20:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T14:48:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Juan A. Lozano, The Associated Press\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Juan A. 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