The Afghan family is being held despite having valid visas

A federal judge was due to consider a petition seeking the immediate release of an Afghan family of five said by their lawyers to have been detained by US agents upon their arrival in California, despite having valid visas to enter the country.
The couple and their three young children were granted the visas and resettlement assistance in return for work the father performed for the US government that put the family’s lives at risk, the International Refugee Assistance Project said in its court filing on Saturday.
However, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents detained the family shortly after their arrival at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) last Tuesday, and held them in incommunicado without access to legal counsel, according to the petition.
The petition, filed in US District Court in Santa Ana, California, south of Los Angeles, says the family was taken into custody, apparently without explanation, and “with absolutely no justification whatsoever”. The filing on their behalf said the family’s incarceration is a violation of constitutional guarantees of due process and equal protection, as well as a breach of the US Administrative Procedure Act and immigration laws.
The petition did not state the exact nature of the father’s employment with the US government in Afghanistan.
But it said he qualified for a special visa under a programme requiring proof of having worked for the US Armed Forces or the American diplomatic mission for at least 12 months, “as well as proof of completion of a background check and screening”. It was not clear on what grounds the government detained the family.
As of Sunday night, the CBP had declined to comment on the matter, which was set for a hearing before a US District Judge Josephine Staton in Santa Ana.
The judge barred a move by the government on Saturday to separate the family by sending the children and their mother, who cannot speak or read English, to Texas.
“Despite this record of service on behalf of our country, CBP has detained this brave family and denied them access to counsel,” said the petition, filed on Saturday with the US District Court Central District of California, referring to US Customs and Border Protection.
CBP declined to comment on the matter.
Immigrant advocates are increasingly concerned about tougher scrutiny of visitors, even those with the proper documentation and visas, as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration on national security grounds.
“The betrayal of this family by the US government shocks the conscience,” the petition said, adding the father, who was not named, was employed by the US government in Afghanistan.
The wife and children, aged 7 years, 6 years, and 8 months, were also not named.
“It is extremely unusual if not entirely unique” for someone with this type of visa to be detained upon arrival. The visas require extreme vetting to get,” said Talia Inlender, a lawyer with Public Counsel who is part of the family’s defence team.
The mother was being detained in downtown Los Angeles with her children, while the father was in a maximum-security detention facility in Orange County, California, Inlender told Reuters.
When asked to comment about the judge’s order, Carl Rusnok, a spokesman for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in an e-mail: “ICE will fully comply with the March 4 judicial order and all other legal requirements.”
The government may explain its reasons for detaining the family at a hearing in federal court in Orange County, Inlender said.
“We think it is going to be hard if not impossible to justify keeping a family in custody for days on end without access to their lawyers,” she said.
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