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Afghans flee Taliban, find refuge and faith — and ICE — in Memphis

Tennessee National Guard troops patrol outside the Bass Pro Shops store in Memphis. Afghans who came to the United States legally and settled in Memphis during the Biden administration are now facing possible deportation. (Brad J. Vest/The New York Times/File)
Tennessee National Guard troops patrol outside the Bass Pro Shops store in Memphis. Afghans who came to the United States legally and settled in Memphis during the Biden administration are now facing possible deportation. (Brad J. Vest/The New York Times/File) Tennessee National Guard troops patrol outside the Bass Pro Shops store in Memphis. Afghans who came to the United States legally and settled in Memphis during the Biden administration are now facing possible deportation. (Brad J. Vest/The New York Times/File)

By David Waters / Institute for Public Service Reporting 9 min read

The immigration agents took Khadija’s husband on a Thursday morning last month. He was walking their two boys to school in Memphis.

They had his name and photo on a long list of people the previous government had welcomed into the country a few years before. The new government has changed its mind.

Khadijah’s husband, Qudratullah, begged the agents not to handcuff him in front of his boys, ages 5 and 9. They did it anyway. They took the Afghan national and his boys to a detention center near the airport.

Then they called Khadija and told her to come to the detention center to pick up their sons. When she arrived, they arrested her and took the entire family to a federal detention center in Dilley, Texas.

Khadija wept.