A Genesee County Employee in the U.S. Lawfully Was Detained by Federal Immigration Officers

Community members are rallying around a beloved Genesee County employee who was taken into custody by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials at Detroit Metro Airport on October 22 despite having a legal work permit.

Benazir Noorzad came to the United States in 2021 as a Fulbright Scholar and earned her master’s degree at Oklahoma State University. The Fulbright Scholar Program is an international cultural exchange program that began in 1946 and exists to do precisely what it did in Noorzad’s case — bring talented scholars from countries all over the world to study in the United States. Scholars in the program teach, conduct research, serve their communities, and create art in communities in the U.S. and abroad.

Noorzad is a native of Afghanistan, and applied for political asylum to stay in the United States when the Taliban took over Afghanistan’s government. Her brother, Matiullah Noorzad, assisted the U.S. military in Afghanistan and he and his wife were eventually granted Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) and became lawful permanent residents of the United States. A Go Fund Me has been set up to support her and her family.

Their service to the U.S. military would put Benazir in danger if she returned to Afghanistan.

“Our service placed our entire family, including Benazir, at potential risk of Taliban retaliation,” Matiullah said in an email he sent to the ICE field office in Detroit. “It is deeply painful to see my sister detained in the very country our family served and trusted for protection. We already sacrificed a lot. Detaining my sister and returning her to Afghanistan could expose her to serious danger because of our family’s association with the U.S. government.”

Because of the danger many natives of Afghanistan, particularly those who assisted the U.S. government or military throughout the war face, Afghani nationals were granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in 2022. TPS, created by Congress in 1990, is a designation granted in U.S. immigration policy that allows people from countries facing armed conflict, environmental disasters, or other extreme or unsafe emergency hardships to temporarily work in the United States and avoid deportation as long as certain residency and legal requirements were met.

However, the Trump Administration revoked TPS status from Afghanis in 2025, putting many who severed alongside, translated for, or otherwise protected U.S. military personnel at risk if they were deported. A 2025 letter from the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations articulated this to then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“TPS was designated for Afghan nationals in 2022 and extended in 2023, due to recognition of the deteriorating economic and humanitarian conditions, in addition to atrocious attacks on the rights of women and minority groups. Revoking TPS for Afghans in the United States exposes these individuals to the very real threat of persecution, violence and even death under Taliban rule. Afghan women and girls in particular face unique and systemic repression — banned from secondary and higher education, denied employment and forced into isolation. Deporting Afghan women and girls would condemn them to a life of fear and oppression,” Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Lisa Murkowski wrote in the letter.

Noorzad works as a human resources benefits representative for Genesee County. Anita Galajda, director of Genesee County Human Resources and Labor Relations, called her a, “well-respected and dear colleague” in an email to local media and

In interviews for previous Flint area immigration stories, Lucine Jarrah, a Flint Alliance for Immigrant Rights (FAIR) coalition member, noted the many complications that rapid and unfair policy changes (like revoking TPS status with no justification) as well as constantly unclear and changing procedural hurdles make it difficult for immigrant neighbors who are following rules.

“It’s very difficult (to keep up with policy changes), but I think that’s the point,” Jarrah said in that interview. “They want it to be difficult. They want people to lose interest and to disengage because it’s so overwhelming. And so that’s something that we are up against as a coalition. We’re trying to take all of this information and put it together, whether it’s through our online campaigns, digitally when we’re putting out newsletters, or informing people via our different social media channels that these are the (latest) policy updates. We’re trying to break them down and help people understand what’s going on and why it’s so important that they stay informed. It does make it difficult because every single day there’s something new that’s happening, and something new for us to follow.”

In Noorzad’s case, her employer and family point out that she has a lawful work permit and that she filed appropriate paperwork seeking asylum, which is still “pending.”

FAIR is trying to help the family with resources, especially legal representation and transportation and lodging costs with Noorzad housed at a correctional facility in Calhoun County.

“We know that our neighbors are still being targeted and they’re being detained in inhumane facilities and every day we’re having to support families who’ve been separated from their loved ones, their children, and they’re being forced to live in this constant fear,” Jarrah previously said.

Donations can be made to the Go Fund Me page, and FAIR also has a wide range of other resources on their LinkTree page for families who need help or support navigating aggressive and cruel immigration policies.

Another Genesee County employee posted that Noorzad has a hearing scheduled for November 4. Her family and many friends who adore her and the role she plays in the community are asking for continued support and attention on her case to help bring her home.

“Benazir is an exceptionally innocent, gentle, and kindhearted person who could not even harm a fly,” her brother wrote in his email. “She legally entered the United States in 2021 as a Fulbright scholar and subsequently applied for asylum following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan. To our knowledge, her application remains pending. She is a dedicated Genesee County employee with valid work authorization, a good background, and strong community ties. We are not asking for special treatment, only fairness, compassion, and consideration of the risks she faces.”