HOUSTON (AP) — An Afghan immigrant whose family said he had been evacuated from his home country after working for years with U.S. forces died at a Texas hospital after immigration authorities detained him, according to authorities. Federal immigration officials called Mohommad Nazeer Paktyawal a “criminal” who had been arrested for alleged fraudulent use of food stamps and for theft. Officials also said Paktyawal had not provided any record of his military service. #AfghanEvac, a San Diego-based group that helps resettle Afghans who assisted the U.S. during the two-decade war, pushed back against the federal government’s claims about Paktyawal, one of several people who have died in recent months after being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. “Calling a man a criminal without a conviction while claiming there is ‘no record’ of service without checking interagency systems looks less like fact-finding and more like damage control,” said Shawn VanDiver, president of #AfghanEvac. “The government should be explaining how a 41-year-old father of six died less than 24 hours after entering ICE custody.” A cause of death is still pending from the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office. But Paktyawal’s family said he was not ill. “We still cannot understand how this happened. He was only 41 years old and was a strong and healthy man. His children keep asking when their father will come home,” the family said in statement. Paktyawal was arrested by ICE on Friday and during his medical intake exam at a Dallas ICE field office, he complained of shortness of breath and chest pain, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Lauren Bis said in a statement Monday. Paktyawal was taken to Parkland Hospital in Dallas and on Saturday, his tongue became swollen and he received treatment. But later in the morning, medical staff had to perform CPR on him. He was pronounced dead at 9:10 a.m. CDT. “No one in ICE custody is denied access to proper medical care,” Bis said. His death was still under investigation, ICE said. U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson, who on Monday had visited the Dallas ICE field office where Paktyawal was held, said the Department of Homeland Security and ICE have had a history “lying and misrepresenting” the background of people they arrest or encounter. “He was not a violent criminal, as President Trump likes to say when he’s rounding up these folks. He was working as a baker,” said Johnson, a Democrat who represents parts of Dallas County. “He was providing for his family and contributing to our economy. And so we have a lot of questions of why was this gentleman targeted? Why was he picked up? And why did he die in their custody?” ICE said Paktyawal had been arrested for committing fraud against SNAP, the government’s biggest food aid program, on Sept. 16. ICE said he had also been arrested for theft by Garland police on Nov. 1. A Dallas County District Attorney’s Office spokesperson said there is an active case regarding SNAP benefits fraud of $200 or more, a third-degree felony, against Paktyawal that had not been resolved. Police in the Dallas suburb of Garland said Paktyawal was arrested on Nov. 1 after being accused of not paying for groceries and merchandise from a Walmart. The case in Garland, a misdemeanor, had not yet been filed with the district attorney’s office, according to the spokesperson. Paktyawal had previously served alongside U.S. military special forces in Afghanistan for a decade and came to the United States following the withdrawal by U.S. troops and the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban in August 2021. “The U.S. brought him here because of the role Afghans like him played in supporting the American mission,” VanDiver said. Paktyawal, who was married, had been living in Richardson, a suburb of Dallas. Johnson said she had been told by his family that he had applied for asylum and his case was pending. But Johnson said ICE agents are claiming that Paktyawal had missed his asylum appointments. Deaths in ICE custody have soared during Trump’s second term. The agency reported 14 custody deaths from the start of the government’s fiscal year Oct. 1 through Jan. 6, well on pace to surpass the previous 12-month count of 24. ICE reported 12 custody deaths in the 2024 fiscal year and 12 in the previous three years combined. ICE has increased the number of people in its detention centers to more than 70,000 from about 40,000 at the start of Trump’s second term. It plans to spend $38.3 billion to boost capacity to 92,600 beds by the end of November, including converted warehouses that house up to 10,000 each Associated Press writers Elliot Spagat in San Diego, Jamie Stengle in Dallas and Rebecca Santana in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report. Follow Juan A. Lozano: https://x.com/juanlozano70 FILE - A federal agent wears an Immigration and Customs Enforcement badge in New York, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File) CHICAGO (AP) — Former NBA center Enes Kanter Freedom was ejected from Sunday night's Indiana-Chicago WNBA game after he was confronted by Sky guard Natasha Cloud late in the third quarter. Freedom was sitting along the baseline. He had on a black shirt that read “WOMAN noun. adult human female.” The Fever called for a timeout after Cloud scored inside with 1:22 left in the third. Cloud then did a chest bump with teammate Aicha Coulibaly before turning around and walking in Kanter's direction. Cloud, 34, started yelling and pointing at Kanter, 34, as she approached him. A standing Kanter held his arms out and took one step on the court as security and a handful of Sky players moved in between the two. “There was just a fan incident and the security handled it, and we're just going to focus on the game,” Chicago forward Azura Stevens said after the Sky's 113-90 loss. Chicago coach Tyler Marsh said Cloud was concerned about being a distraction for the team. “I told her she wasn’t,” Marsh said. “I told her that we all embrace her as someone that protects our team and protects people that need to be protected and so Tash is always going to stand on that, and we stand for Tash.” Freedom stopped near the basket to plead his case to security as he was escorted from the court area. He spun around while holding his shirt out and encouraged the crowd to respond as he walked toward the front lobby. He had a conversation with a group of police officers before departing Wintrust Arena. “I didn’t see it, we were talking about the next play in our huddle," Indiana star Caitlin Clark said, "so I think that’s probably a question for Chicago.” Cloud met with team and league security after the game. She did not speak with the media. The WNBA has been the subject of recent debates on whether transgender women — people assigned male at birth who transition to align with their gender identity — should be allowed to participate in the league. There has never been such a player in the WNBA. Although the league’s collective bargaining agreement says the WNBA is restricted to women, it contains no more specific language about gender identity or sex assigned at birth. Fever guard Sophie Cunningham said in an ESPN profile published last month that she was opposed to transgender girls and women competing in girls’ and women’s sports. Freedom and Royce White, another former NBA player, have declared themselves eligible for the WNBA draft, saying they identify as women. Asked if he had a message for Kanter, Marsh praised the league and its players. “If you come to a game you should probably come to enjoy the basketball," he said, “and that seems pretty simple to me. I think these players deserve that and have earned that. Being a former basketball player, you should probably understand and feel that too.” See AP’s full WNBA coverage here Former NBA center Enes Kanter Freedom greets a friend before a WNBA basketball game between the Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)