ICE takes Afghan Family

Despite an Afghan family having legal residence until 2026, they received a letter to report to the U.S. Immigration and Customs office in Malta, NY. The mother's sister and her family, scared and wondering what prompted this meeting, rallied the community to show up in Malta to show support for the family. Many Afghans are being targeted by immigration in the wake of an Afghan immigrant shooting two US guards in an isolated act. HMM's Sina Basila Hickey spoke with the sister and brother-in-law of the family and with a teacher of the children. Additional information received: The Afghan family was told by an ICE agent that prior to their immigration check-in that they should quit their jobs, inform their landlord that they won’t be returning, and to notify the school that the kids wouldn’t be attending any longer. After this devastating ordeal, the family, who entered the ICE building at about 10:40am, were finally released back into the community at about 3pm.