Afghan high school senior is detained by ICE as he prepared to graduate

ImmigrationAfghan high school senior is detained by ICE as he prepared to graduateThe 18-year-old entered the U.S. legally on humanitarian parole along with his father, who served as an interpreter for U.S. forces. Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00ShareAdd NBC News to GoogleApril 15, 2026, 3:12 PM EDTBy Nicole AcevedoA high school senior in Connecticut is spending his days in immigration detention after ICE picked him up last week on the first day of his spring break.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Rihan, 18, who’s being identified by his first name by his attorney, would have been starting senior year activities and preparing for upcoming final exams at Cheshire High School. Instead, he's being held at a detention facility in Massachusetts, about 170 miles away from his home. An Afghan national, Rihan legally entered the U.S. with his family in October 2024 and was granted humanitarian parole, which was set to expire in October of this year. According to one of his attorneys, Lauren Petersen, humanitarian parole was approved due to direct threats to the family after Rihan’s father, Zia, served as an interpreter for the U.S. military in Afghanistan.“The U.S. government looked at his specific case, the danger he was in, and gave him permission in advance to enter this country,” Petersen said in a news conference last week.While Rihan is in detention, "his school has been exploring ways to support him so that he can stay on track academically and graduate on time, including sending homework and class assignments to him through his attorneys at the detention center," Catalina Samper-Horak, executive director of The American Immigrant Legal Clinic, the organization representing Rihan and his family, told NBC News on Tuesday.Rihan “worked really hard to learn English, excel at school and be an A student. Now, he is worried, his family is worried and his school is worried," Samper-Horak...