Afghan refugee family escaping persecution detained by ICE in Memphis, faces deportation

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - An Afghan refugee family who lived and attended church in Memphis for two years is now detained by ICE agents at a processing center in Texas, with local religious leaders calling for their release.

The Afghan family--a husband, wife and two children--are being held at a facility in Dilley, Texas. The family came to the United States, fleeing persecution of Christians and Hazaras, an ethnic minority is Afghanistan, by the Taliban.

The family had been living in Memphis under Temporary Protected Status until earlier this month when ICE agents approached the father as he was taking his children to school.

“He was approached by ICE and he was arrested,” says Mark Morris, director of Refugee Memphis. “They took the whole family with the children to Texas where they are in a family encampment.”

The family was granted asylum in the U.S. under the Biden administration following the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan. Last month, President Trump ordered ICE agents to review asylum seekers following the killing of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., suspected to be shot by an Afghan national.

“When we have neighbors who have come to us and who have followed all of the rules, who have taken all of the right steps, our hope is we would see our neighbors be honored and respected,” says Pastor Stephen Cook of Second Baptist Church, which has hosted the Afghan Christian community for church services.

The family is awaiting a hearing to determine if they can stay in the United States. If deported to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, they could face persecution or death because of their Christian faith and ethnic identity.

“Shortly after the Taliban took over, there many Afghan Christians that were taken by the Taliban, and they were murdered,” says Morris. “We know that Christians will be killed. There’s a long track record of that happening through this regime.”

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