LOWELL — An Afghan man battling brain cancer who was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents last month has been released on bond in Florida, a family member told The Sun Wednesday, but the man’s ordeal is not over. Ihsanullah Garay, 38, was arrested by ICE agents in Methuen Sept. 14 and later brought to a facility in Rhode Island, and after that to Florida, despite a valid employment authorization card his cousin, Abdul Ahad Storay, was able to show to The Sun. After more than a month in custody, during which he was missing critical appointments to treat his cancer, Garay was released on bond, Storay said. Storay told The Sun Wednesday he got a call telling him to buy Garay a plane ticket because he had been released, but when Garay attempted to go to the airport, he was denied boarding by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration because he did not have an ID card, which Storay said was taken by ICE in Massachusetts and never given back. “So I canceled his ticket … I paid extra for a taxi driver to bring him to the bus station,” said Storay. “He will start traveling back tonight.” That will be a roughly 36-hour trip from Jacksonville for Garay, Storay said. “He is not doing very good, but he is at least optimistic now,” Storay said of his cousin’s condition. “I am a little bit relieved now that he is out,” Storay said later. “I am just worried now about when he is going to arrive back, and getting him to his doctor.” Garay has been living in Lowell with Storay as he underwent treatment for the cancer, which has impacted Garay to the point where he no longer felt he could live on his own. Both men are from Afghanistan, with Storay arriving in the U.S. in 2017 and receiving his citizenship a couple years ago, and Garay arriving in April 2021 with the aim of getting his doctorate in finance. In the summer after Garay left, Afghanistan fell back to the Taliban as U.S. forces withdrew from the country. Garay learned he had cancer soon after that. Garay has been unable to return to Afghanistan due to his life being at risk from the Taliban, Storay said. Garay lived with Storay in Lowell for a time while he underwent treatment at Lowell General Hospital before moving back to New York City, where he had previously been seeking his degree before the cancer upended his life. After finding he couldn’t live on his own with his illness, Storay said his cousin returned to live with him in Lowell, and he continued his cancer treatments at Boston Medical Center. Garay had taken to delivering food for apps like DoorDash and Grubhub to support himself after he moved back to Lowell to live with Storay. It was during one such delivery on Sept. 14 that Garay was arrested after he stopped to ask someone for directions in Methuen, and that person happened to be an agent for ICE. An ICE Boston spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Garay’s release Wednesday. When The Sun reached out to ICE for comment on Garay’s arrest for the initial story about his situation, ICE Boston spokesperson James Covington called Garay “an illegal alien from Afghanistan,” and claimed Garay “violated the terms of his lawful admission when he refused to leave the country” after his student visa allegedly expired in 2021. Garay’s employment authorization card, which Storay showed The Sun, was issued last year, and it does not expire until 2029. Under the Biden administration in 2022, the Department of Homeland Security had given Afghan citizens living in the U.S. Temporary Protected Status after the Taliban retook their country, due to the risks many of them face from the Taliban government if they return. That program was terminated by DHS under the Trump administration earlier this year.