Dallas County authorities need to release the autopsy of a former Afghan ally who died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s custody after they alleged he suffered an allergic reaction combined with methamphetamine use.
Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal died one day after he was detained by ICE outside of his home in March. His autopsy from the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office found Paktiawal died of “anaphylaxis complicating acute asthma exacerbation,” which is commonly triggered by food, drugs or insect venom.
The medical examiners listed methamphetamine as a contributing factor along with his heart issues and cigarette smoking, but when the family received the body for an independent autopsy, there was no blood remaining to test. Additionally, the family denies Paktiawal’s use of drugs and claims ICE agents refused to take his emergency inhaler when they took him into custody.
This incident, like many of the 50 other deaths while in ICE custody, seems very suspicious. If Paktiawal was truly a meth-addled criminal like the ICE officials imply, then why not release the autopsy? It would only strengthen their case for needing to take “dangerous” people off the streets who are in the country illegally, but that is not what is happening here.
Paktiawal served alongside United States military special forces in Afghanistan and was evacuated to the U.S. after the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul in 2021. He played an active role in supporting America’s missions in Afghanistan and was rewarded by being abducted from his home while his children got ready for school.
ICE alleges the reason for Paktiawal’s detention was SNAP fraud and theft of groceries, both of which he was arrested for but faced no charges. He also had applied for asylum to stay in the U.S. because returning to Afghanistan would mean death for him and his family, but ICE also claimed Pakitawal had not attended his appointments.
Whether this claim is true or not, immigration officials also claim there is no record of Paktiawal’s military service.
Shawn VanDiver, president of AfghanEvac, a group that helps resettle Afghans who assisted the U.S. during the war, does not agree. He claims this is damage control and he is right. The facts do not line up. Paktiawal’s death certificate lists the date of injury as the day before he was taken into custody, and there is no evidence of how or what caused the allergic reaction.
ICE is doing everything it can to disparage Paktiawal’s character in an effort to cover up its own negligence. If they can paint him in the light of a criminal, then they believe people will stop caring about the father of six who served alongside American troops for a decade.
This is not the first time this has happened though. Tien Xuan Phan, a 55-year-old Vietnamese man, died in ICE custody in 2025, and his cause of death is still under investigation. Geraldo Lunas Campos, whose cause of death was quietly changed from “medical distress” to a homicide, died on Jan. 3 after a “spontaneous use of force” by staff who tried to stop him from harming himself.
These are just a couple examples of the growing number of in-custody deaths, but it shows a willingness to lie and cover up the true cause of death just so the agency can save face. There is already a solution to this problem through body-worn cameras and it has been adopted by law enforcement agencies across the country.
However, ICE is different. Despite a February 2025 directive requiring ICE agents to wear body-worn cameras, only about 25 percent have them. The Department of Homeland Security was given $20 million in funding for the procurement of body cameras, yet the ICE agents involved in the shooting death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston did not have any.
This is another highly contentious shooting where body cameras would prove the officers’ side of the story if they are telling the truth.
Increasingly, it seems as if the agency wants to operate as a secret police that hides behind bureaucracy and a lack of transparency.
The body count is rising and officers are not facing consequences, nor are ICE officials releasing transparent documentation to prove their side of the story.
Dallas County authorities have declined to release the report from the medical examiners because it would interfere with a federal investigation into Paktiawal’s death. They have even gone as far as asking Attorney General Ken Paxton to grant permission to withhold the report under a law enforcement exception.
Moves like this come across as crooked and fearful. Both ICE and Dallas County officials are now tied to this, whether above board or not, but their actions leave the public increasingly doubtful. If ICE’s negligence contributed to the death of Paktiawal, then Dallas County officials are just as guilty for helping to cover it up.
The most reasonable and responsible thing to do for all parties involved with this death is to just release his full autopsy. Prove innocence and show ICE is absolved of any foul play. Silence is only breeding suspicion and the country is already growing increasingly tired of the reckless way immigration is being enforced in the country.
So, the DHS should shift to a more transparent policy, allow independent investigators to look into these controversies and adopt body cameras agency-wide. Only then will they begin to gain back any trust from the American people.