According to the GoFundMe for his family, 41-year-old Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal dropped his children off at school on the morning of Friday, March 13, just like any other weekday. After ensuring that his kids were safe inside, he headed to his home in Richardson, Texas.
Soon after arriving in his driveway, Paktiawal was surrounded by ICE agents who drove up in two unmarked Black SUVs and poured out to detain him. According to the advocacy group #AfghanEvac, which first reported on the man’s death in ICE custody, Paktiawal's children at home witnessed the agents take their father.
As Paktiawal was being processed, he did not report any prior medical history. That evening, he was able to call his brother from a holding room at the Dallas ICE field office where he stated he wasn’t feeling well. He called again around 11:00 p.m. and told his brother that he was feeling worse than before.
Paktiawal expressed to staff that he was feeling pains in his chest and experiencing shortness of breath. After detailing his symptoms throughout the evening, he was transported to the Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas, around 11:45 p.m. He remained in the hospital overnight for observation at the emergency room doctor’s request.
The next morning, while Paktiawal was eating breakfast, medical staff noted that his tongue was swollen. According to #AfghanEvac, Paktiawal was still alive around 8:00 a.m. Based on the ICE press release, he was pronounced dead, just over an hour later, at 9:10 a.m.