A group of Afghan refugees in the Valley is learning to document their personal stories, not just as a keepsake, but as a safeguard should they face detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.
The organization "Their Story is Our Story" is piloting a storytelling workshop with Afghans at the Arizona Refugee Center.
"We're looking to use storytelling, which is a very effective advocacy tool in both an offensive and a defensive manner," Executive Director Kristen Smith Dayley said. "If somebody is detained and picked up, they have a way to alert their community as to what has happened and speak for themselves," Smith Dayley said.
The program aims to expand to other immigrant communities throughout the Valley.
"My hope is that they never have to use these stories that we're teaching to put on videos for this purpose. Our hope is that this would be a wonderful treasure for their families, for posterity," Smith Dayley said.
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Mirweis Daudzai, an Afghan refugee who served as a police officer for 13 years before fleeing the Taliban, said he’s been working through the asylum process for five years to get permanent status.
"Number one, I am safe," Daudzai said. “I apply for a green card. My green card is right now pending."
That pending status has become increasingly dangerous for refugees, according to immigration attorneys who say federal officials are now detaining even those with active, legal asylum cases.
"Everybody is fair game," said Hillary Walsh of New Frontier Immigration Law.
Walsh said she recently visited a client at Eloy Detention Center who had been granted asylum from Afghanistan by three different immigration judges.
"After his whole case was all done, in July, ICE picked him up, and he's been sitting in that detention center for over 180 days, waiting for something to happen,” Walsh said.
Immigration Attorney Yasser Sanchez said the increased detentions of those under pending asylum status are something he’s only seen under the current Trump administration.
"The Trump administration has made some changes as far as procedure is concerned, and they have authorized ICE agents to put people in proceedings that currently have cases before an immigration judge, which is something that we've never seen before,” Sanchez said.
Court precedent limits immigration detentions to six months if removal is not in the foreseeable future.
Daudzai attended the training this week and said he believes sharing his story is important.
"I think it's a good idea to share my life stories with people. They're not lies, they're real," he said through his translator. "Afghans are nice people. There's good and bad in every community, but that's not to generalize."
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