AUSTIN – Days after an Afghan man died while in custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Dallas, is pressing for answers from ICE leaders.
Mohammad Nazeer Paktyawal died Saturday morning at Parkland Memorial Hospital a day after agents arrested him in “a targeted enforcement action” outside his Richardson apartment, the agency said. It did not provide a cause of death and is investigating.
Paktyawal, 41, was a former Afghan special forces soldier who worked alongside U.S. Army Special Forces. He and his family were evacuated from Afghanistan in 2021. ICE said Sunday he was allowed into the U.S. on temporary humanitarian parole on Aug. 21, 2021, but that permission expired in August 2025.
He had settled in Richardson, with his wife and six children, and he worked at a halal market.
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In her letter to ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons, Johnson said her office has received reports of poor conditions and lack of medical care at ICE facilities. Paktyawal was held at the Dallas ICE field office on Friday before being taken to the hospital.
She asked the agency to answer 13 questions, including whether he had a criminal conviction, was medically screened after his arrest and what symptoms he reported.
“This department’s reckless decisions and unwarranted detainment led to his death,” Johnson wrote.
ICE, in a news release Sunday, said local authorities had arrested Paktyawal on charges of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program fraud on Sept. 16, 2025, and a second time on theft charges Nov. 1, 2025. It provided no additional detail and has declined to respond to follow-up questions from The Dallas Morning News.
Johnson called the lack of transparency “completely unacceptable” and criticized the arrest of Paktyawal over those with serious criminal convictions.
“What once started off as only detaining and deporting murderers and rapists has now turned into a husband, a father of 6, and an ally of this country, dead at the hands of this department,” Johnson wrote.
Spokespeople for ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, ICE’s parent agency, did not respond to an email from The News Thursday seeking comment on Johnson’s letter.
Paktyawal is the 32nd person to die in ICE custody since President Donald Trump began his second term.
ICE said Paktyawal was arrested Friday and did not report “any prior medical history” then or while he was being processed.
Paktyawal began complaining of shortness of breath and chest pains Friday evening while in a holding room at the Dallas ICE field office and was taken to the hospital for treatment, the agency said.
ICE said medical staff noticed his tongue was swollen Saturday morning while he was eating breakfast, prompting a response, but he died despite lifesaving efforts.