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On 14 October, Ali Faqirzada – an Afghan refugee, a resident of New Paltz, New York, and a computer science student at Bard College – arrived for an interview at a federal immigration office on Long Island. He was applying for political asylum, a designation for which he was – and remains – a perfect candidate.
In his native country, Faqirzada had assisted the American government and Nato with projects designed to improve the lives of Afghan women and help them get an education. But after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, the ministry where he, his mother and sister had worked was bombed by the Taliban, and one of its employees was murdered.
Understandably concerned that they would be tortured and killed like so many Afghans targeted by the Taliban for their cooperation with humanitarian agencies, the Faqirzadas made their way to Mexico, and from there to the US, where they immediately applied for refugee status. Six family members have already been granted asylum after having successfully made the case that repatriation to their Taliban-controlled homeland would likely mean a death sentence.
When Ali Faqirzada went for his 14 October interview, it seemed probable that his petition would also be approved. According to Malia Dumont, a military veteran formerly deployed in Afghanistan and now chief of staff and vice-president for strategy and policy at Bard, Ali is a brilliant, generous, community-minded student who has worked in New York state as a hospital security guard, a position of great trust and responsibility.
In a more reasonable, more compassionate country, the immigration official would have walked around the table, shaken Faqirzada’s hand, and thanked him for how much he has done on behalf of his people and our own. In a more recognizably American country, the interviewer would have congratulated Ali on how obviously he is thriving in his adopted land and on the good chance that he will go on to make valuable contributions to our society.
But that is not what happened. That is not how the story went in Donald Trump and Stephen Miller’s America. Immediately following his interview, during which he convinced the authorities that his claim of “credible fear” was justified, Faqirzada was arrested by ICE agents and sent to the Delaney Hall Ddetention facility in Newark, New Jersey, a for-profit prison operated by the GEO Group. He has been there ever since, in a cell with 12 other men, where his access to books, water, and halal food has been severely restricted. According to visitors, he has devoted his energies to maintaining the morale and the welfare of his fellow inmates.
The merits of Ali’s case and the sheer absurdity of the suggestion that the genial, well-liked college student could pose any sort of terrorist threat has prompted an outpouring of popular support.
Among his advocates are Leon Botstein, president of Bard College and himself a refugee from the Nazis, who has stated that wisest course in such situations is to be as vocal – to make as much noise – as possible. Others who have spoken out on Faqirzada’s behalf include the New York governor, Kathy Hochul, Congressman Pat Ryan, a Democrat of New York, the communities of New Paltz and Stone Ridge, New York, and Episcopal Bishop Matthew Heyd, who led a vigil in November outside Delaney Hall.
Their efforts to free Faqirzada have been complicated by a 29 November government ruling that has paused the final approval of all asylum applications. It’s the newest and most drastic addition to a series of recent measures – including the temporary cessation of the US Refugee Admissions Program on 20 January – that have made the process of asylum-seeking steadily more challenging. In addition, there is now a pause on new immigration from Afghanistan and on the issuing of green cards to Afghans already residing in the United States. Decisions on the granting of asylum are made by the Department of Homeland Security and not the judiciary, thus making it easier for the Trump administration to drastically curtail the flow of refugees.
The sweeping new changes targeting Afghans were enacted in the aftermath of the tragic Washington DC shooting of two national guard soldiers, one fatally, by an Afghan national who had worked with the CIA and whose application for asylum had been thoroughly vetted and approved.
Common sense – a trait that the Republican party has claimed as an essential aspect of their political agenda – suggests that a genial, kind-hearted, highly motivated computer science student and hospital security guard should not be held accountable for someone else’s crime. Nor should the entire Afghan community, many members of which have fled great danger at home, be punished for the actions of one man and made to worry about whatever safety and stability they have managed to find in our country. There is great confusion, uncertainty, and a dispiriting lack of clarity about what precisely these new measures mean and how to proceed from here.
Many questions remain about Ali Faqirzada’s detention. How long will he continue to be held prisoner at Delaney Hall? How will the new rulings effect his chances of being granted the protections he clearly deserves? But perhaps the most important questions are the ones that we have been asking ourselves since January 2025 and that we will likely ask ourselves for years to come. How did we let this happen – and what can we do about it now?
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Francine Prose is a former president of PEN American Center and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
