Released from ICE purgatory

Hasan (a pseudonym), a Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, and one of my interlocutors, was subjected to a ritualized bureaucracy. He was required to report to ICE for a routine check-in. Five months ago, as usual, when he showed up for a check-in, thinking it was a normal one, but instead, he was told he was on the "expedited removal" list. "You must come with us," recounted Hasan, his shock upon hearing those words, while he was standing in front of a few ICE officers ready to force him into a van.

Four ICE officers forced him into a white van and drove him away. "I didn't know where they were taking me," he told me, throwing up his hands, to explain his state of confusion and shock after the fact. He ends up at a detention center in the southernmost point, near the Mexican border. There, a large prison with different units and sections holds thousands of detainees awaiting deportation.

Hasan spent about five months in a legal and social purgatory in a total institution, which is designed to strip individuals of their humanity. 

Fortunately, he had a lawyer and was moving forward with his asylum case. His asylum application was finally approved while he was in detention, and he was released.

Hassan is a Hazara refugee from Afghanistan who worked for the US government and NGOs but failed to evacuate him during the fall of Kabul, leaving him exposed. He trekked his way through 11 countries to reach the US border. Like many others, he had crossed the border to claim his rights to protection, which were exposed by the US withdrawal.

Last night, I went to see him. He was on cloud nine. He was overjoyed and busy with overdue phone calls and text messages from his friends and family. Du-baarah zinda shudam, Nasim berar [I came back to life, brother Nasim], he told me while holding my hands on his as if we had not shaken hands for ages.