Afghan interpreter in Iowa will get asylum after years of waiting

Zalmay Niazy, the former Afghan interpreter for U.S. troops who grabbed national attention two years ago for his fight to stay in Iowa, learned Tuesday he will be granted political asylum.

More than two years after the U.S. government denied his request for asylum and told him to prepare for deportation — because of an incident that happened when he was a child — immigration officials have reversed course and agreed to let him stay.

“This is what we were fighting for, this is what we wanted, and we got it,” Niazy told The Gazette. “It feels really good. I am really happy. I am really excited.”

Niazy became an interpreter for the U.S. military in 2007, translating for American troops who were in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. He was wounded in roadside and suicide bombings and shot. Because he was working for Americans, he and his family were threatened by the Taliban and his uncle was killed.

When his translation work ended, Niazy went to work for a private company in Afghanistan. In late 2014, he traveled to the United States for a business trip. While he was away, his family received a letter that threatened Niazy’s life if he returned home.

He stayed in the United States and made his way to Iowa Falls to stay with a cousin who’d moved to the small northern Iowa town after his own work as an interpreter for Iowa National Guard soldiers ended.

In early 2015, Niazy applied for asylum. Frustrated by delays, Niazy stood up at a 2017 town hall hosted by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley in Iowa Falls and asked the senator what he could do to help an Afghan man who’d risked his life for American soldiers.

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Grassley’s office helped Niazy get an interview with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. During the interview, Niazy was asked about his interactions with the Taliban.

When he was 9 years old, Niazy told U.S. officials, he was approached by the Taliban. They grabbed him by the neck and ordered him to give them a piece of bread. If he didn’t, they’d burn his house down. Niazy gave them the bread.

The U.S. government interpreted that as providing aid to a terrorist organization, and in May 2021 Niazy received a letter denying his request for asylum and ordering him to appear for a hearing before an immigration judge.

The Iowa Falls community rallied around Niazy, who’s known around town as “Zee.” A group of his supporters began meeting in a church basement to organize their efforts. They shared his story with reporters, reached out to contacts in the federal government and launched a fundraiser.

They raised $45,000 for Niazy’s legal expenses, and attracted the attention of media across the country. One of those reports was seen by Javad Khazaeli, a St. Louis lawyer who spent 10 years working in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security.

Khazaeli asked Homeland Security to reexamine Niazy’s case. As a result, deportation proceedings were suspended and the case was sent back to immigration officials.

Last July, Niazy and Khazaeli traveled to Omaha for another interview with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. They asked him just one question.

“They said, ‘When this incident happened with the bread, were you in ninth grade? Or were you 9 years old?’” Niazy said. He answered the question and was told he’d hear from the government in two weeks.

Tuesday morning — more than 50 weeks since that interview — Khazaeli called Niazy to share the news. “He said, ‘Congratulations. You won the battle,’” Niazy said.

Hours later, Niazy, who owns a small business — Zee Handyman Services — was waving to supporters who honked as they drove by his work site in Iowa Falls. Several people stopped to shake his hand or hug him while he spoke with The Gazette.

“I was driving down main street and somebody stopped and blew me a kiss,” Niazy said. “I haven’t done anything to deserve that, but I’ll try to return the favors.”

Niazy spent Tuesday spreading the news to his most devoted supporters — back home in Afghanistan, and his adopted home of Iowa Falls.

“The support and the love of the community got me to stand up again and go after the fight,” he said. “It kept me strong.”

Niazy said he’s waiting for details about what’s next, but he will likely receive a Green Card. He will no longer have to renew his license and work permit every year, as has been required since he arrived in 2015. And someday, he’ll become an American citizen.

“I always had a dream to be part of this great country and I wanted to be,” he said. “There’s a lot of potential that we can do as a team to help others. I want to be united and give hands to the ones that are fallen. I want to help them stand up.”

He’s already started passing on the help he received by volunteering to work with refugees from Afghanistan and evacuees from Ukraine.

“We have to see other people who need help,” he said. “If I can help them, I will.”

Comments: (319) 398-8465; sara.baranowski@thegazette.com