Ally to US troops faces federal charge after crossing southern border illegally
Fox News national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin's has the latest on Safi's travels on 'Special Report.'
An Afghan soldier who attempted to get asylum in the United States after the 2021 fall of Kabul is still incarcerated in a U.S. detention facility, despite serious injuries, and congressional pleas for his release.
Abdul Wasi Safi was trained by the U.S. military to be an elite special forces commando in Afghanistan. After Kabul fell, Wasi went into hiding, hoping to eventually receive a special immigrant visa to legally move to the United States.
In an attempt to reach the United States, Wasi traveled by foot and on a bus through 10 Latin American countries, where he was beaten. When he finally reached the United States, he was arrested at the border trying to cross the Rio Grande.
Photo of Abdul Wasi Safi, an US-trained special forces operative who escaped from Taliban control, fled to Texas and was arrested for crossing the border seeking asylum. (Sami-ullah Safi )
Jennifer Cervantes, Wasi’s immigration lawyer, said he has been given little, if any, pain medication, despite the serious injuries he endured while traveling to the United States. While she said she has not personally seen his medical records, she has been told he is bleeding from his ears, has lost a tooth, and another is beginning to fall out.
Wasi came to the United States, Cervantes said, to escape near certain death in Afghanistan. "What he got was detained by Customs and Border Patrol," she added.
Photo of Abdul Wasi Safi, an US-trained special forces operative who escaped from Taliban control, fled to Texas and was arrested for crossing the border seeking asylum. (Sami-ullah Safi )
"I was in a special force commando unit with the U.S. military," Wasi previously told Fox News in a phone interview from Eden Detention Center in Texas. "I wanted to come to the United States. I don't select another country to help me because I was with them. But I come here, and they put me in jail."
The threat to Wasi’s life, should he be deported to Afghanistan, is very real, Cervantes said. The Taliban has his biometric data, left behind by the U.S. government. "It’s not whether he’ll be killed, it’s when," she said.
Photo of Abdul Wasi Safi, an US-trained special forces operative who escaped from Taliban control, fled to Texas and was arrested for crossing the border seeking asylum. (Sami-ullah Safi )
Rep. Michael Waltz has been following Wasi’s case, and, along with Rep. Dan Crenshaw, sent a letter to the Biden administration in December asking Wasi be granted parole. He said he has yet to receive a response.
"It would literally take one call from the Defense Department," Waltz told Fox News Digital. But, he added, "just wants Afghanistan to go away," so has taken no action.
"They just literally don’t want to deal with it any longer," he said.
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Wasi’s case reveals the cracks in the U.S. immigration policy, Waltz said, calling the situation "asinine."
"If anyone has a legitimate asylum claim, it’s him."
Fox News' Jennifer Griffin, Liz Friden, and Krista Garvin contributed to this report.
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