Son and brother of Afghan man who died in ICE custody demand answers: “I want to know why he died”

Dallas — The family of an Afghan immigrant who died one day after being taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Texas says it has received no answers as to what caused the man’s death. 

Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal, 41, was detained by ICE on March 13 while getting ready to take his children to school. He died the following day in a Dallas hospital. 

“I just want answers for my dad,” 12-year-old Imrain Paktiawal, Paktiawal’s son, told CBS News in Richardson, Texas. “That’s it. I want to know why he died. He was healthy.” 

The father of six is the 12th person to die in ICE custody so far this year. Thirty-one ICE detainees died last year, a two-decade high, according to a CBS News analysis of agency reports and notices.

Naseer Paktiawal told CBS News he received his brother’s body on Tuesday. 

“I received a call from my sister-in-law,” Naseer said of the morning his brother was taken into ICE custody. “She say that, ‘Some people show up from nowhere, and they just took your brother.'”

Naseer said the family received no explanation as to why Paktiawal was detained.

“Nothing, they just put him in their car and drove away,” Naseer said. “His kids were screaming, asking for help, asking question, ‘Who are you guys? Why are you guys arresting my father, my dad?’ No one answered those children.”

In a statement provided to CBS News, ICE said Paktiawal was brought to the U.S. in August 2021 through an immigration policy known as parole, which allows certain immigrants to live and work in the U.S. temporarily on humanitarian grounds. The Biden administration used the parole policy to welcome tens of thousands of Afghans it evacuated from Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover. ICE said Paktiawal’s parole status expired on Aug. 20, 2025. 

ICE also said Paktiawal had been arrested twice last year in the Dallas area on local fraud and theft charges. The Dallas County District Attorney confirmed the arrests but said he had not been convicted in either case as of the time of his death. The theft arrest stemmed from an allegation that he stole groceries and other items from a Walmart store, according to the Garland, Texas, police department.

Naseer, however, said the arrests don’t tell the full story of his brother’s life. He points to Paktiawal’s service, which he said included a decade in the Afghan military, fighting alongside American forces before being evacuated to the U.S. in 2021.

“My brother, he was a wartime hero and he was a soldier, a warrior alongside with U.S. Army,” Naseer said. “He was special forces in the most dangerous places in Afghanistan.” 

In a statement, DHS said it “has no record of this individual serving alongside American forces.” But Naseer showed CBS News documents and a badge that he says are evidence that Paktiawal fought alongside U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.   

“These are the people that my brother was working (with), American soldiers in Afghanistan,” Naseer said.

Naseer said his brother came to the U.S. legally and was “interviewed, fingerprinted, screened.”

“He did not cross the border,” Naseer said. “Legally went through all the system, complete all the procedures, not just him … his entire family.”

It is still unclear exactly what happened after Paktiawal was detained. According to the statement from ICE, on the night of March 13, Paktiawal was “immediately” taken to Parkland Health hospital in Dallas after he “began complaining of shortness of breath and chest pains while in an ICE Dallas Field Office processing hold room.”

ICE said Paktiawal remained at the hospital “for observation,” and the following morning, he “was eating breakfast when medical staff noted that his tongue had become swollen, prompting a medical response. After multiple lifesaving efforts were attempted, he was declared deceased at 9:10 a.m.” 

Naseer said he spoke to his brother by phone on March 13, the day he was detained.   

“The first thing that I heard from him, he said, ‘Naseer, I don’t know where am I right now, and I’m not feeling well,'” Naseer said of their conversation. “That’s the first word that I heard from him, ‘I’m not feeling well.’ I told him, ‘OK, so let me talk to whoever that officer is.'”

Naseer said his brother then handed the phone to a federal immigration officer. 

“And he hand over the phone, and I told him (the immigration officer) that my brother needs help, he’s not feeling good,” Naseer recounted. “He’s … feeling pain in his body. He (the officer) told me, ‘Don’t worry about it … we have nurse. We will take care of him.’ And he hang up the phone on me.” 

Naseer says the family still has not received answers as to the cause of his brother’s death. ICE said the death remains under investigation. 

“Nobody’s answering to me that what happened to my brother,” Naseer said. “Why is he dead?”

Meanwhile, Imrain says his father’s absence is hard to process. 

“He was a good dad … He was a hero, and he will always be a hero.”