(NewsNation) — Four years after Arman Momand immigrated to the U.S. on a special visa due to his father’s service to the U.S. military in Afghanistan, the teen faces possible deportation back to the Taliban regime after being detained by immigration authorities over misdemeanor convictions.
Momand, 19, was taken into ICE custody at a Virginia courthouse in August after he was convicted of reckless driving for going over the speed limit and disorderly conduct.
The agency has yet to inform Momand, 19, of the basis for his arrest, his attorney Miriam Airington-Fisher told NewsNation.
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The teen was supposed to return to high school but has instead been in a Virginia detention center since his arrest, she said. He is now set to appear for a bond hearing on Monday, though his immigration case won’t be resolved until a separate hearing, his attorney said.
ICE did not return a request for comment by NewsNation.
Airington-Fisher argues Momand’s detention does not appear to fall within any category of offenses that could lead to the loss of legal status under U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policies.
“We’ve been hearing for months that the government is deporting the ‘worst of the worst,’ and we’ve seen time and time again that that is simply not who is being caught up in this and who’s being deported,” Airington-Fisher said.
“Here is a young man who has legal status, who legally entered the country, who’s eligible for permanent residency as a result of his father’s service to America, so it’s really just a very extreme example of the misplaced immigration enforcement that we’re seeing right now.”
Virginia Gov. Glen Youngkin supported ICE’s move, saying Momand is “here under a provisional visa as an adult, and they have every authority to go investigate,” according to local news outlet WWBT.
“He is a 19-year-old person who had full understanding of what he was doing, and 18 and 19-year-olds are asked to do lots in this world. They are asked to join the military, they are asked to do all kinds of very important things and in this case, he needs to be responsible for his actions,” Youngkin said.
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Misdemeanors while on path to permanent residency
“It’s really been a heartbreaking experience,” Airington-Fisher said of the teen’s family. “You can imagine from what they’ve been through (in Afghanistan) to get to this point.”
Momand received no jail time for either of his misdemeanor convictions, but he was given a notice to appear by ICE, which places an individual into removal or deportation proceedings and a detention facility, Airington-Fisher said.
Momand’s detainment also caused the teen to miss his Green Card interview with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and though it was rescheduled for September, this could leave his path to permanent residency vulnerable, his attorney said.
Can misdemeanors warrant ICE detention?
While the law appears to rely more on the nature of the crime, some misdemeanors could technically lead to deportation, Jennifer Behm, a New York-based immigration attorney, said.
Congress has laid out broad categories of criminal offenses that could be subject to deportation under the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act. Among them are crimes of “moral turpitude” and “aggravated felonies.”
ICE also lists criminal convictions that pose “a public safety or national security threat” as grounds for deportation. The agency lists burglaries, robberies, kidnapping, homicide, sexual assault, weapons offenses and drug and human trafficking.
Reckless driving and disorderly conduct don’t appear on the list.
“When you are here in a temporary status, including being paroled in, even minor offenses can trigger ICE action because when you’re here as a non-immigrant, you have to comply with both immigration terms and general criminal law,” Behm said.
But in cases like Momand’s, lawyers can argue that those were low-level offenses that should not change his status, she added.
The danger of returning to the Taliban regime
Momand’s detention brings up the possibility of deportation back to Afghanistan, which is under the Taliban regime.
The teen’s family fled the country in 2021 after the Taliban returned to power.
“The people who assisted the U.S. are traitors to the current regime in Afghanistan, so I don’t think you have to connect too many dots to appreciate the level of danger that the family would be in if they were returned, or if Arman was returned,” Airington-Fisher said.
That threat was also realized in a 2022 report from Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who had criticized President Joe Biden’s administration for failures in evacuating Afghans, particularly those who helped the military after the Taliban’s takeover.
“With the Taliban hunting down those who had assisted the United States, State [Department] should have planned to relocate a sizable amount of these people,” the report stated.
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What is the special visa program and how could this affect it?
The special visa granted to Momand’s family provides a direct path to lawful permanent residency for locals who have worked with the U.S. government or military in foreign countries like Afghanistan.
It was designed to offer protection and new life to those who face serious threats in their home countries for helping the United States for at least a year, Rricha Mathur, senior director of policy and climate at the International Refugee Assistance Project, explained to NewsNation.
Some of the individuals granted the special visa were interpreters, translators and subcontractors on infrastructure projects in Afghanistan, she said.
Since 2009, 50,500 Afghans have received a special visa, according to the State Department.
This program was a promise of protection given to these people so deportations of special visa holders could set a “dangerous precedent,” she said. “Going forward, others may not feel it’s worth helping the U.S because they can’t trust this promise,” Mathur added.
But for Momand, that promise already feels thin as he waits on a path that could return him to the land his family risked everything to escape.
