Refugee Jailed In NJ Followed Legal Process, Faces Deportation Anyway

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — If there’s ever been an asylum seeker who deserves a break, it’s Ali Sajad Faqirzada, his supporters say.

Faqirzada – a 31-year-old refugee from Afghanistan whose family fled the Taliban for the United States – is one of hundreds of federal immigration detainees imprisoned at Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey. His case has been attracting attention from advocates and elected officials across the Tri-State Area, who are demanding that federal authorities release him from custody so that he can pursue his asylum case legally.

In 2022, Faqirzada crossed the southern U.S. border without authorization to make an asylum claim. He and his family turned themselves in to Border Patrol, filing an official request with the government soon afterwards – which has been playing out ever since.

After arriving in the United States, the Afghan native resettled in New Paltz, New York. He has been studying computer science at Bard College and working at a local hospital. Along with his parents, brother and sisters, Faqirzada has been a “valued community member” in Ulster County for more than three years, a local official said.

In October, Faqirzada went to a routine immigration check-in and was detained by ICE. He was able to send a quick text message to his sister, the Albany Times Union reported: “They’re taking me.”

Faqirzada is currently incarcerated at Delaney Hall in Newark, according to ICE’s online detainee locator database.

Federal immigration authorities told PBS that Faqirzada was “released by the Biden administration” into the country. “This poses a serious national security risk for the United States and [its] citizens,” authorities said.

Faqirzada’s supporters – including Essex County Commissioner and congressional candidate Brendan Gill of Montclair – have argued otherwise.

On Tuesday, Gill sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, pushing for Faqirzada’s release.

“Known as a hardworking, kind, and dedicated member of his community, Mr. Faqirzada was a full-time student and security guard with no criminal record,” Gill wrote. “He was lawfully pursuing the asylum process and following a legal pathway to citizenship, yet now sits detained at Delaney Hall.”

“His story reflects far too many we have seen this year: innocent people ripped from their families and denied their Constitutional rights,” Gill said.

• See Related: Essex Commissioners Demand Action At ICE Prison: ‘You Should Be Ashamed’

Faqirzada has also seen a groundswell of support from his new neighbors.

“Anyone who risked their life for our country deserves our respect, support and a shot at the American Dream,” U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan of New York said.

“It’s exactly what the asylum process is for, and the fact that Ali – who risked so much to help our country fight the Taliban – is sitting in jail is deeply unjust and fundamentally un-American,” Ryan added.

Other supporters have included the New York Post editorial board, which urged authorities to “cut Ali Faqirzada a break” in a recent op-ed:

“Unlike the overwhelming major of Biden-era ‘asylum seekers,’ Faqirzada is the real deal. He fled Afghanistan after the Taliban took over, credibly fearing for his life since he worked for a government agency that issued licenses to U.S. companies doing work there; seven others in his family have won asylum; he turned himself in to the Border Patrol after crossing, and has committed no other crime since … The Trump Department of Homeland Security is stuck handling a ton of problems the last administration created, but that’s no excuse for treating an honest man like a Tren de Aragua gangbanger. Do the right thing, the American thing: Let Ali pursue his case, rather than sending him back home to be killed.”

Attorneys at Human Rights First have filed a habeas corpus petition requesting Faqirzada’s release.

“Ali arrived in the United States with his family more than three and a half years ago after fleeing persecution in Afghanistan due to their women and human rights activism, as well as work for the former government of Afghanistan,” the advocacy group reported.

Anwen Hughes, a senior director with the group, said Faqirzada and his family were allies of the United States, working to rebuild democracy in Afghanistan – and that’s why the Taliban targeted them.

All of Ali’s family members who fled Afghanistan with him have been granted asylum, Human Rights First said.

“This is a family that has done everything possible to comply with U.S. immigration laws,” Hughes said.

• See Related: This New Jersey ‘Teacher Of The Year’ Was Almost Deported

DELANEY HALL REOPENS UNDER TRUMP

Delaney Hall was the first ICE detention facility to open during President Donald Trump’s second term. Federal authorities began housing detainees at the prison in May.

Located near a major international airport, Delaney Hall formerly held immigration detainees until it closed in 2017 and was turned into a halfway house. Its reopening allows ICE to expand its detention and deportation capacity in the Northeast region of the country.

>> Read More: Detainee Population Surges At ICE Prison In NJ After It Reopens Under Trump

The facility’s owner, the GEO Group – one of the largest private prison companies in the nation – was awarded a 15-year contract that it valued at $1 billion to run the new detention center.

According to data from the Department of Homeland Security, about 90 percent of the 807 people detained at Delaney Hall do not have prior criminal records, NJ Spotlight News reported.

Although the focus on federal immigration enforcement has ramped up since Trump took office, large-scale ICE raids also took place in New Jersey during former President Joe Biden’s term.

The agency’s Newark field office processes federal detainees from across the state. Prior to New Jersey’s now-overturned ban on ICE contracts, hundreds of people were being arrested and deported from the office every month.

• Read More: ICE In NJ Deported 500 People From Country In 3 Months, Feds Say

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