PORTLAND, Ore. – A former Afghan army lieutenant who is seeking asylum in the U.S. learned this week he will be deported back to Afghanistan, after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied his request to stay.
Mustafa Tanin came to the U.S. for language training with the U.S. military in 2015. He had no criminal history in Afghanistan or the United States when he left the training site four months later. According to court records, Tanin was seeking asylum in the U.S. because of death threats from the Taliban, due to his political affiliation with a minority party and his religious status as a Shiite Muslim.
Tanin said he fears the Taliban will torture or kill him if he is deported to Afghanistan. He is currently being held at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma and was previously detained at NORCOR in The Dalles, Oregon.
One of Tanin’s laywers, Brenda Baumgart, told KGW that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement informed Tanin on Tuesday that he would be deported either the first or second week of June.
“He’s very distraught,” Baumgart said. “It’s his understanding that the Afghan government has a record of all the deserters, and they will put him in prison for at least 15 years.”
Mustafa Tanin petition by KGW News on Scribd
Even more concerning to Tanin is his fear of what the Taliban will do if they find him when he gets to Afghanistan. Baumgart said Tanin fears he will be executed upon his return.
Now that the 9th circuit has denied Tanin’s request, his lawyers are out of legal options to keep him in the country. Baumgart said her team is reaching out to U.S. representatives and senators in the area in hopes they will intervene.
KGW has covered Tanin’s story previously, as the administrator of the NORCOR jail in The Dalles was angry when ICE sent Tanin to the jail as part of its contract to hold immigration detainees. NORCOR administrator Bryan Brandenburg said he has an agreement with ICE to only hold detainees with criminal records.
ICE would not verify the agreement.
Background: What we know about ICE detainees in Oregon
KGW has reached out to ICE for comment.
