Mohammad Kharwin, 48, is believed to have spent about 10 months in the United States without any type of surveillance system. He was enrolled in Alternatives to Detention, which tracks the location of migrants through an ankle monitor, a mobile app, or cell phone, but it didn't last long.
He is listed on the national terrorist watch list as a member of Hezb-e-Islami (HIG), a political and paramilitary group in Afghanistan that the U.S. has designated as terrorist. The group was responsible for attacks in Afghanistan in which at least nine US soldiers and civilians died between 2013 and 2015. However, it is not considered a major threat in terms of attacks within the United States. It is not known why he was removed from the tracking program on March 28, 2023, without it being known why. The Alternatives to Detention program began in 2004, during the Administration of Republican George W. Bush. Congress Republicans, who oppose the program, have cut its funding, forcing ICE to stop monitoring immigrants often as soon as they first show up at the agency's offices. An estimated 183,901 immigrants have spent an average of 554 days in detention centers, according to data from the Syracuse University Immigration Clearinghouse. A Department of Homeland Security official said many immigrants who present a low flight risk are not held in the program until their court appearance, which can be a year or more away. The number of immigrants absconding from the program has “decreased dramatically” in recent years, and enrollment in the program increases the chances that immigrants will show up for their immigration court hearings, an official said. An NBC News analysis found that the percentage of migrants on the terrorist watch list as a proportion of the total number of CBP encounters across all US borders was slightly lower during the Biden Administration than during that of Donald Trump.