A Richardson man died less than 24 hours after being arrested by ICE. His death is under investigation as the Afghan community and federal officials dispute his past
DALLAS — Federal authorities are investigating after a North Texas man died less than a day after being taken into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody — a death that has prompted sharply different accounts of who he was and what happened.
Mohammad Nazeer Paktyawal, 41, was arrested Friday during an immigration enforcement operation in Richardson, according to ICE.
The agency said Paktyawal complained of chest pain and shortness of breath while being processed at its Dallas Field Office and was taken to Parkland Hospital, where he received breathing treatment and remained overnight.
The next morning, ICE said medical staff noticed that his tongue had become swollen, prompting a medical response. After multiple lifesaving efforts were attempted, he was declared dead just after 9 a.m. The cause of death remains under investigation.
In North Texas’ Afghan community, Paktyawal is being remembered as a father and former wartime ally.
Noorulhaq Lali, the owner of Golden Star Halal Market in Richardson, said Paktyawal worked for him and leaves behind a wife and six children.
“Life for Nazeer’s family is like a disaster right now. It is not easy,” Lali said.
The advocacy group AfghanEvac said Paktyawal worked with U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan and was evacuated to the United States after the fall of Kabul in 2021. The group said he had been living in Richardson while his asylum case remained pending.
“How we show up for our wartime allies, how we take care of people that we’ve welcomed into our country, Afghan or not, is a commentary on the very idea of America,” said Shawn VanDiver of AfghanEvac, which is now calling for an independent investigation into Paktyawal’s death.
ICE, however, described Paktyawal differently in a statement.
The agency called him a “criminal illegal alien” with prior arrests for SNAP fraud and theft and said he provided no record of military service when he entered the United States in 2021.
VanDiver disputed that characterization.
“We have pictures of him serving. We have certificates of him serving. The information that’s been presented to us looks authentic. It looks like he served,” VanDiver said.
For many in the Afghan community, Lali said, the death has left people shaken.