By Tony Agnello
(Ed. note: Tony is RPCV Afghanistan and President of Friends of Afghanistan. Read his perspective on the current situation in the U.S. and how he’s responding through the AfghanEvac Battle Buddies program.)
We are living through unprecedented and turbulent times in the United States and worldwide. For RPCV members of the Peace Corps Community for Refugees, the social anomaly is most evident in the treatment of immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.
But there is hope, and it’s happening through the efforts of conscientious and honorable veterans and their representative organizations, like AfghanEvac, who vow to “Leave No One Behind.” As applied to the Special Immigration Visa (SIV) recipients who trained, served, and fought side by side with American and NATO forces, the pledge is to allow no one to be sent back to face inevitable Taliban retribution.
The stated purpose of the Administration’s immigrant and refugee expulsion efforts was to identify and deport the “Worst of the Worst:” the murderers, rapists, and gang members causing chaos across the United States. If this were truly Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) goal, there would be clear, widespread public support for its actions. But deporting the “Worst of the Worst” is not ICE’s true objective.
Dismissing the fact that immigrants commit fewer crimes per capita than native born Americans, ICE’s broad-brush dragnet efforts have led to the warrantless detention and arrest of legal resident Green Card holders, naturalized, and native-born American citizens, and Special Immigration Visa (SIV) holders who have been detained and arrested for the demographic crime of appearing to be Hispanic, Latino, or foreign.
It is the plight of the SIV recipients and applicants that might teach us how to successfully address the excesses of ICE’s deportation practices. Click on this link to view the arrest of Sayeed Naser. He was arrested at his SIV hearing in July and, in the presence of his attorney, was detained for three months before ICE was forced to release him. (Read about his release.)
Brian McGoldrick, the attorney featured in the CNN video, said, “Habeas Corpus is the only way to win against arbitrary arrest and detention.”
If you want to help the immigrant community, AfghanEvac’s Battle Buddies program can provide information regarding how to legally protest ICE’s excesses. While the program was designed for Afghan SIV recipients and applicants, it can serve as a “Best Practice” universal template to peacefully demonstrate, record, and protest against the arbitrary apprehension methods of ICE.
Here’s a description of the program from their website:
Afghan wartime allies were promised a pathway to immigration to the United States based on their service to our mission over the course of our longest war. They came through legal channels. They showed up to court as required. And now they are being targeted, arrested, and detained by ICE—with no warning, no due process, and no justification.
That’s not just wrong—it’s un-American.
In response, AfghanEvac and IAVA have launched Battle Buddies– an initiative to support our wartime allies as they go through their immigration processes – because no one who stood with us in war should have to stand alone in court.
Battle Buddies brings veterans, advocates, and everyday Americans to courtroom doors—standing quietly, legally, and deliberately to witness and affirm that our promises still stand.
Learn more about AfghanEvac and IAVA (Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America) and the Battle Buddies program. You may sign up as an individual, but if there is sufficient interest among individuals and/or affiliate groups, we can request a special training through PCC4Refugees. Please contact me at [email protected] if you are interested or to learn more.