Zalmay Niazy, an Iowan and Afghanistan interpreter who faces deportation as a result of a childhood encounter with the Taliban, said on Tuesday that he was being forced to leave the United States would be a “death sentence.”
During his asylum interview as a 9-year-old kid, the US authorities questioned Niazy if he had any contact with the Taliban.
“This was my asylum interview in America. And I said, ‘I can’t hide that, I can’t lie about it, and yes, I did,'” Niazy told “America’s Newsroom” co-host Dana Perino. Niazy described the interaction he had with the Taliban as a child.
Interaction with Taliban
“They were very brutal people, and they even wanted to harm us and our family,” he said. “One day, out of nowhere, they came out to her [sic] house, they showed up while we’re playing outside and they said, ‘You are going home and bring a piece of bread.” I went home, mom gave me a piece of bread, and they threatened that they would burn our house, kill your parents if you don’t bring a piece of bread. My mom gave me a piece of bread no bigger than a cell phone and tossed it to them and said that they are just smugglers. They are just people that we have to stay away from, and that’s why we are not allowed to go outside.”
Zalmay Niazy worked as an Afghan interpreter for the US military from 2007 to 2014. It is “when he came back to the United States”. However, after returning to the United States from Afghanistan, Niazy received a letter from the Department of Homeland Security stating that they are no longer interacting with him. It was due to an encounter he had with the Taliban when he was 9 years old. They forced him to help them with a piece of bread.
“I got a letter from the United States citizenship and immigration departments, and Homeland Security, that my application for asylum had been denied,” Zalmay Niazy said. “And the reason they said was because I engaged in terrorist activity. When I shared that with my lawyer, he said it was material support that the United States is against it, and that’s what caused this problem.”
Immigration crisis
Perino questioned Niazy about his status in light of the continuing immigration crisis at the border. There has been a record influx of migrants, especially unaccompanied kids, at the southern border in recent months. It is straining capacity at immigration facilities.
“I have to wonder, what was happening at our southern border, with all these people coming across illegally,” he said. “And here you are having worked for the United States and served in a war zone and being told that you have to leave because of something you did when you were 9 years old for the Taliban. Disregarding everything. What would you like to say to the secretary at the department of homeland security?
‘What they are saying doesn’t make sense. I sacrificed my life, my family’s life. I got shot for this country, and I have survived many other attacks on me. They can contact their U.S. citizens, their federal government that I have served with, all at high ranks and they will be able to explain everything I did for this country.”
“It is very disappointing that somebody walking from the border has been honored more than somebody who has served this country and risked his life and getting a death sentence by their decision,” Niazy added.
Perino said she contacted Iowa Sens. Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley, and they replied, “They will send a letter–we’ve tried.”
“At some point, doesn’t the White House get involved?” Perino said. “They said technically there was material support when he was 9 years old. I can’t imagine that somebody at the White House doesn’t call up the Department of Homeland Security and say, ‘Honestly? Stop it. You have the power to stop it.’”
“And don’t tell me the bureaucracy won’t let you do it,” Perino concluded.
Biden’s goal
Meanwhile, as the US pulls out of Afghanistan, Taliban troops are gaining strength. They are driving the Afghan government’s soldiers out of numerous areas while seizing weapons and military vehicles in the process.
According to Sky News, insurgents have stolen 900 weapons, 70 sniper rifles, and 65 vehicles. While this is going on, the Afghan government continues to lose ground, with the Taliban now controlling seven districts. President Biden’s goal is to withdraw completely from Afghanistan by September 11. It is the 20th anniversary of Usama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda assault on the United States.
Furthermore, as US forces depart from Afghanistan, Taliban insurgents have recently gained control of hundreds of abandoned facilities. They raise concerns about the fate of 18,000 Afghan interpreters who risked their lives to serve the US government.