{"id":77814,"date":"2023-09-12T22:52:54","date_gmt":"2023-09-12T22:52:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/09\/12\/afghan-soldier-abdul-wasi-safi-once-detained-at-border-wins-asylum\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:53:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:53:53","slug":"afghan-soldier-abdul-wasi-safi-once-detained-at-border-wins-asylum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2023\/09\/12\/afghan-soldier-abdul-wasi-safi-once-detained-at-border-wins-asylum\/","title":{"rendered":"Afghan soldier Abdul Wasi Safi, once detained at border, wins asylum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nearly a year after former Afghan intelligence officer Abdul Wasi Safi was detained at the border between the U.S. and Mexico in Texas, the Justice Department has granted him asylum to live with his brother Sami-ullah Safi in Houston and waived his immigration hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wasi said he couldn\u2019t believe the news at first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was in shock like, I say, oh my god, is it real?\u201d Wasi said in an interview with Military Times. \u201cIs it really my paper? My asylum is really granted or what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decision comes nearly 11 months since Wasi said he turned himself in to border patrol agents to declare asylum<\/a> but was charged with entering the U.S. without the proper documentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wasi, 27, had left Afghanistan after the U.S. withdrew from the country after 20 years of conflict. As a special operations soldier in the Afghan National Security Forces, Wasi was under direct threat of retaliation by the Taliban. <\/b>The last U.S. troops departed Afghanistan<\/a> on Aug. 30, 2021, after the Taliban captured Kabul, leaving as many as 150,000 Afghans like Wasi behind, including individuals who worked closely with U.S. military forces as interpreters and combat assistants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Abdul Wasi Safi, who helped the Afghan military fight the Taliban, left the country fearing for his life. He was arrested after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border trying to reach his brother, a U.S. citizen. Credit: Courtesy of Sami-ullah Safi & Texas Tribune<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The brothers refer to the vacuum of the American presence in their home country as \u201cthe collapse,\u201d when the Taliban quickly took control over the government as the last planes departed from Kabul. In a harrowing journey across continents, Wasi made his way by air, taxi, and on foot to reunite with his older brother Sami, 30, in Houston. He was hopeful that the U.S. would welcome him with open arms, only to spend months in detention centers in Texas. He was released early this year <\/a>after a swirl of press attention and major efforts by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But his asylum hearing was <\/b>shifted multiple times, from July, to a date in mid-December, then November. Wasi wasn\u2019t expecting a decision today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, he just wants to provide support for his family still in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI try to find some good job, for my family, and I hope I go to college,\u201d Wasi said, after first tuning up his English. His brother, Sami, largely does the translating for him. The two have lived together since Wasi\u2019s release from the detention center in Del Rio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allison P. Erickson\u2019s piece about the Safis first appeared in <\/i>The Texas Tribune<\/i><\/a>, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans \u2014 and engages with them \u2014 about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. This story was produced in partnership with <\/i>Military Veterans in Journalism<\/i><\/a>. Please send tips to <\/i>MVJ-Tips@militarytimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s almost a year since Wasi said he turned himself in to border patrol agents to declare asylum but was charged with entering the U.S. illegally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":107268,"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":[101,8,23,12,26,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3398],"class_list":["post-77814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"2UO5MW6CPFDGZNINS3HDL2UWQI","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/afghanistan\/2023\/09\/12\/afghan-soldier-abdul-wasi-safi-once-detained-at-border-wins-asylum\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\nAfghan soldier Abdul Wasi Safi, once detained at border, wins asylum - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It's almost a year since Wasi said he turned himself in to border patrol agents to declare asylum but was charged with entering the U.S. illegally.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/afghanistan\/2023\/09\/12\/afghan-soldier-abdul-wasi-safi-once-detained-at-border-wins-asylum\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Afghan soldier Abdul Wasi Safi, once detained at border, wins asylum\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It's almost a year since Wasi said he turned himself in to border patrol agents to declare asylum but was charged with entering the U.S. illegally.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2023\/09\/12\/afghan-soldier-abdul-wasi-safi-once-detained-at-border-wins-asylum\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Navy Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-12T22:52:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T15:53:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Allison P. 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