The case of Sayed Naser Noori, a U.S. military interpreter or so he claims, has been a subject of national attention since his detention in 2025. Three Afghan nationals connected to U.S. military service have become high-profile stories, with coverage often focusing on their service records and portraying each detention as a betrayal of a wartime ally.
Noori was arrested on June 12, 2025, at his first asylum hearing in San Diego. He arrived at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in July 2024 without a valid entry document or approved refugee status. A CBP officer paroled him into the United States pending Section 240 removal proceedings, granting humanitarian parole, a temporary status not a pathway to citizenship.
Noori stated in his asylum filings that he worked as a civilian interpreter for the U.S. military from 2015 to 2018. However, his account of being driven from the country after the Taliban killed his brother and abducted his father at a family wedding in 2023 is contradicted by his own habeas petition, which places the incident in September 2021.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revoked Noori's humanitarian parole on April 11, 2025, without explanation. He was not detained at that time, but ICE took him into custody on June 12, 2025, during a routine immigration court hearing. The court dismissed his original Notice to Appear, and Noori was placed in expedited removal proceedings under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(1).
Noori's legal team disputed DHS's characterization of him as an "unvetted illegal alien" from a "high-threat country," citing contracting and employment records that they said substantiated his claim of working with U.S. forces. However, these records have not been authenticated by the court.
Noori's attorneys filed an emergency petition for a writ of habeas corpus, arguing that after living in the United States for over a year under parole, he had acquired procedural due-process protections that barred the government from detaining him without individualized notice. On September 26, 2025, Judge Curiel granted the habeas petition, ruling that DHS had unlawfully placed Noori in expedited removal and that their use of a mass automated notification system to revoke his parole was deficient.
As a remedy, Judge Curiel ordered Noori's immediate release from detention, restored him to his original parole status, and barred ICE from re-detaining him without prior court approval. However, this order did not grant Noori permanent residency, citizenship, or a permanent right to remain in the United States.
Noori remains in the United States under his original temporary humanitarian parole while his asylum claim and Special Immigrant Visa application continue through the normal administrative process, with no assurance of the outcome.
The case highlights the complexities of immigration law and the challenges of navigating the U.S. asylum system. Noori's situation remains uncertain, and his future in the United States remains unclear.
