Lauren Cundick Petersen, with U.S. Sen. Blumenthal: “I think, at the moment, [Zia] can live un-harassed.”
Zia S. stepped outside for the first time in three months on Tuesday night.
Held for 90 days at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center, Zia — a former Afghan interpreter for the U.S. military — has been released on a $15,000 bond, allowing him to return home to his wife and five children in a New Haven suburb.
Upon taking his first steps outside, he remembered the drops of cold rain, the smell of wet earth, and the sound of chirping birds. “A very happy moment,” he said.
His brother and a friend drove to Plymouth, Mass., in the middle of the night to take Zia back to his family and home.
Even though Zia entered the U.S. legally and received Chief of Mission approval for a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV), his attorney, Lauren Cundick Petersen, cautioned on Thursday that Zia has been living in “legal limbo” ever since the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revoked his humanitarian parole in July. (Humanitarian parole is a temporary entry program granted to people in humanitarian emergencies or for reasons of “significant public benefit.”)
Now that Zia is home, Petersen is prioritizing Zia’s simultaneous applications for asylum status and legal permanent residency (a green card). “I think, at the moment, he can live un-harassed,” she said, but noted that others released from custody have been, without warning, “re-arrested” by ICE.
Zia and his brother spoke with the Independent over the phone Thursday afternoon, right after Zia’s brother had gone grocery shopping for his newly reunited family.
Zia, who enjoyed regular hour-long walks in nature with his wife, said he wasn’t allowed outside during his entire three-month detention. He spent most of his time inside a two-person room with a small window, released only three times per day to mill the halls and watch TV.
He spoke to no one else in the center. He recalled being focused exclusively on his situation and his family back home.
“Days in the detention center are not easy,” said Zia. “One day is like one year.”
To keep his spirits up, he’d pray and play games — his favorite was one similar to Flappy Bird — on a tablet provided by the center.
When he got home Tuesday night, he recalled his kids “jumping up” on him. His wife, noticeably thinner than the last time he’d seen her, burst into tears.
“Those were the hardest days for [my wife], [my brother], and for the entire family,” said Zia.
He’s planning to spend the next few days relaxing, clearing his mind, and eating “good food.” Once he’s stronger, he’ll start going on walks and hikes with his wife again.
On Thursday, Zia’s brother said the whole family would be eating lamb curry and Afghan-style rice for dinner, prepared by Zia’s wife.
Zia and his brother emphasized how thankful they are to U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, U.S. Reps. Jahana Hayes and Bill Keating, their attorneys, and the media, for “raising Zia’s voice and the family’s voice.”
Zia worked for around five years as a translator for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. He, his wife, and their five children fled for Pakistan after the Taliban takeover in 2021, fearing that Zia’s work with the U.S. military made them targets for retribution. With Petersen’s help, they received approval for two-year humanitarian parole, allowing them to enter the U.S. legally in October 2024.
On July 16, Zia was detained by six ICE agents, some in balaclavas, outside of a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration (USCIS) office in East Hartford, following a routine appointment related to his green card application. At the time of his arrest, he was accompanied by a volunteer from New Haven’s Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services (IRIS), whose daughter first described the incident in a Facebook post.
Zia was taken to an ICE detention center in Plymouth, Mass. Petersen said he was issued a signed order of expedited removal, a deportation process that does not guarantee a hearing in immigration court. Because Zia expressed a credible fear of being killed if deported to Afghanistan, in August, DHS canceled the order and initiated traditional removal proceedings.
Petersen filed a habeas petition in federal court the day after Zia was arrested and requested a bond hearing in immigration court to get him released.
On Sept. 8, the immigration court judge decided that she didn’t have jurisdiction to hold a bond hearing, as she found that Zia was subject to 235(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which mandates detention.
Petersen argued that 235(b) of the INA did not apply to Zia. On Oct. 3, Massachusetts federal court Judge Leo T. Sorokin agreed, ordering the immigration court to hold a bond hearing within seven days.
During that hearing, held on Oct. 9, an immigration judge determined that Zia was eligible for a bond, as the government failed to prove that he posed a flight risk or danger to the community.
A few days later, Zia was released and allowed to return home.
There’s still not much clarity on why Zia was arrested in the first place. According to online federal court documents, ICE detained Zia after learning that the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) had received information in May indicating that Zia poses “national security concerns.” The government provided no further explanation in any of its court filings.
On Thursday, Petersen categorically denied the claim that Zia is a national security risk. “My client has no criminal history, and he has never posed a security threat to the U.S. public or to anyone else,” said Petersen.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who visited Zia at the detention center in August, emailed a press release on Wednesday with the following:
“Zia was finally able to return home to his loved ones after his unlawful, unconscionable detention by ICE. Zia put his life on the line to aid our troops during the conflict in Afghanistan, he—and all of our wartime allies who worked with our servicemembers—deserve our unwavering protection.
“I am heartened by his release yesterday, and I will continue fighting to ensure he has a clear pathway for permanent legal status to bring him and his family safety and certainty.”
In a phone interview with the Independent on Thursday, Katherine McWilliams, Blumenthal’s communications director, said, “We’re standing ready to pitch in with whatever [Zia’s] lawyer thinks is helpful.”
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