US veterans decry arrest of ex-army sergeant after Ice protest

Bajun Mavalwalla, an advocate for Afghans who supported US military in Afghanistan, faces up to six years in prison

Veterans who helped the US's Afghan allies find refuge in the US say they are outraged that a fellow veteran and advocate now faces federal conspiracy charges for his role in a protest against the Trump administration's immigration policies.

Some call the arrest of former US army sergeant Bajun Mavalwalla II shameful" and un-American". Mavalwalla is part of a community of American military veterans who, in the wake of Kabul's fall to the Taliban in 2021, worked to rescue Afghans who supported the US military operations in their home country.