Criminal charges dropped against US ally
Fox News national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin has the latest on the formerly detained Afghan soldier on 'Special Report.'
Federal charges against an Afghan soldier who traveled to the United States seeking asylum after the 2021 fall of Kabul were dropped this week "in the interest of justice," according to a report.
Fox News confirmed on Tuesday that case against Abdul Wasi Safi, who illegally entered the U.S. last year trying to escape the Taliban, was dismissed after a judge agreed to drop the charges at the request of an assistant U.S. attorney.
Photo of Abdul Wasi Safi, an US-trained special forces operative who escaped from Taliban control, fled to Texas and was arrested for crossing the border seeking asylum. (Sami-ullah Safi )
Wasi was trained by the U.S. military to be an elite special forces commando in Afghanistan and after Kabul fell, he continued to fight the Taliban alongside the Northern resistance. Fearing retaliation, Wasi went into hiding, hoping to eventually receive a special immigrant visa to legally move to the United States and reunite with his brother in Houston.
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After traveling through 10 Latin American countries and sustaining brutal beatings, Wasi was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents trying to cross the Rio Grande on Sep. 30.
He was charged with illegal entry, which carries up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $5,000 if he pleaded guilty.
With the criminal case against him dismissed, Wasi will now be permitted to reapply for asylum, The Texas Tribune, who first reported the news of the charges being dropped, stated.
Wasi immigration lawyer, Jennifer Cervantes told Fox News Digital late Tuesday that she is working to secure Wasi's release, so he can proceed with his asylum case.
"I’m very happy to see the federal charges were dropped against Wasi and the government did the right thing," Cervantes said in a statement. "We will now be working with ICE to request Wasi’s release. My hope is that ICE will appreciate Wasi’s service to this country, understands the extreme risks to his life if returned to Afghanistan and that they will parole Wasi into the U.S., so he can continue his asylum case in the safety and freedom he deserves."
Photo of Abdul Wasi Safi, an US-trained special forces operative who escaped from Taliban control, fled to Texas and was arrested for crossing the border seeking asylum. (Sami-ullah Safi )
Cervantes previously told Fox News that Wasi sustained serious injuries while traveling to the United States and that he has been given little, if any, pain medication, despite reportedly bleeding from his ears, and losing a tooth in custody.
Wasi came to the United States, Cervantes said, to escape near certain death in Afghanistan.
"What he got was detained by Customs and Border Patrol," she said earlier this month.
"The threat to Wasi’s life, should he be deported to Afghanistan, is very real," she added. "The Taliban has his biometric data, left behind by the U.S. government. It’s not whether he’ll be killed, it’s when."
The case garnered national attention and was closely followed by members of Congress, including Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., who along Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, sent a letter to the Biden administration in December asking Wasi be granted parole citing the service the Afghan native provided to the U.S. Veteran groups also urged the White House to intervene on Wasi's behalf.
In an earlier phone interview with Fox News, Wasi, from Eden Detention Center in Texas, said he's disappointed with the treatment he received upon crossing the border.
Photo of Abdul Wasi Safi, an US-trained special forces operative who escaped from Taliban control, fled to Texas and was arrested for crossing the border seeking asylum. (Sami-ullah Safi )
"I was in a special force commando unit with the U.S. military. I wanted to come to the United States. I don't select another country to help me because I was with them. But I come here, and they put me in jail," he said. "Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico. I cross all that distance to come to United States because I was thinking and hoping the American government that they will help me."
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Wasi remained incarcerated as of Tuesday evening.
Fox News' Kelsey Koberg and Adam Sabes contributed to this report.