Afghan family detained in LA are asking for release

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An Afghan family of five who obtained special visas to relocate to the U.S. were detained by immigration officials when they arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday and have been in custody ever since, according to court records and their attorneys.

The mother, father and their three children, including a baby, arrived at LAX for a connecting flight to Washington state, where they planned to resettle. Instead, they were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement “with absolutely no justification whatsoever,” according to a federal court petition filed Saturday by the International Refugee Assistance Project seeking the family’s release.

The petition argues that that the father worked for the U.S. government in Afghanistan and was able to obtain special immigrant visas along with his family after years of intense vetting. In addition to being detained, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has prevented attorneys from communicating with the family, according to the petition.

“The betrayal of this family by the U.S. government shocks the conscience,” the petition said.

Becca Heller, the director of the International Refugee Assistance Project, said Sunday that the father was being held at a detention center in Orange County. Though his wife and children initially were taken to a similar facility in Los Angeles, more recently they were being detained in a hotel, she said.

“It’s just a complete travesty,” Heller said. “It would be if it were happing to anybody, but especially someone who spent years and years risking his life for the U.S.”

U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton issued a temporary restraining order late Saturday banning the government from removing the family from California. The order came within an hour of a flight to Texas that the government had planned to place the mother and children on, the judge said, according to the order.

“The mother cannot read or speak English and her children are aged 7 years, 6 years, and 8 months old,” according to the order. “The balance of equities tip in their favor and the injunction is in the public interest.”