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Friday, February 13, 2026

Louvre Museum's Denon gallery damaged by water leak, Mona Lisa unaffected

February 13, 2026
Louvre Museum's Denon gallery damaged by water leak, Mona Lisa unaffected

PARIS, Feb 13 (Reuters) - The Louvre museum's Denon gallery, where its ‌most valuable paintings are displayed, was ‌hit by a water leak on Thursday ​evening, although the area which houses Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa was unaffected, said a Louvre spokesperson.

The spokesperson said ‌the water ⁠leak had been stopped in the early hours of Friday and ⁠that the gallery would soon re-open.

The leak happened in the room 707, ​where paintings ​from 19th century ​French artist Charles ‌Meynier and 16th century Italian artist Bernardino Luini are displayed. The water caused some damage to a ceiling painted by Meynier.

The water leak is the ‌second in less ​than three months in ​a museum ​that has gone through a ‌spate of recent setbacks - ​including a ​spectacular jewel heist, strikes and a massive ticket fraud investigation- that ​have put ‌its management under intense scrutiny.

(Reporting ​by Inti Landauro; Editing by Benoit ​Van Overstraeten/Sudip Kar-Gupta)

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Journalist Don Lemon to enter plea in Minnesota ICE protest case

February 13, 2026
Journalist Don Lemon to enter plea in Minnesota ICE protest case

By Jack Queen

Reuters

MINNEAPOLIS, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Former CNN anchor Don Lemon is due in federal court in Minnesota on Friday to enter a plea in a criminal case stemming from ‌his coverage of a protest at a church against President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.

Lemon, now an ‌independent journalist, livestreamed a protest against Trump's deployment of thousands of armed immigration agents into Democratic-governed Minnesota's biggest cities. The protest ​disrupted a January 18 service at Cities Church in St. Paul.

He was charged with conspiring to deprive others of their civil rights and violating a law that has been used to crack down on demonstrations at abortion clinics but also forbids obstructing access to houses of worship.

He is set to appear in federal court in St. ‌Paul at 1:00 p.m. (1900 GMT).

Lemon's lawyer has ⁠called the case an attack on First Amendment free speech rights.

Trump has frequently lashed out at the media, stripping journalists of access-granting credentials and suing some news outlets ⁠over their coverage of him. The president praised the Justice Department for bringing the charges against Lemon, calling the disruption of the church service a "horrible thing."

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Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a January 30 social media video that ​prosecutors ​will come after anyone who threatens the "sacred right" to worship ​freely and safely.

Thousands of protesters took to ‌the streets of Minneapolis and other U.S. cities in January to denounce an immigration crackdown in which federal agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens.

Trump has since agreed to end his deportation surge in Minnesota, with many agents set to return to their home states over the next week.

Organizers of the Cities Church protest told Lemon they chose the church because they believed a senior pastor there was working with U.S. Immigration and ‌Customs Enforcement.

In a livestream archived on his YouTube channel, Lemon ​can be seen meeting with and interviewing the activists before ​they go to the church. He then records ​the disruption inside and interviews congregants, protesters and a pastor, who asks Lemon and ‌the protesters to leave.

Independent local journalist Georgia Fort ​was also arrested and ​charged with the same crimes. Fort has denied wrongdoing and said she was reporting on the protest, not participating. She is scheduled to enter a plea on February 17.

Lemon spent 17 years at CNN, ​becoming one of its most recognizable ‌personalities, and frequently criticizes Trump in his YouTube broadcasts. Lemon was fired by CNN in ​2023 after making sexist on-air comments for which he later apologized.

(Reporting by Jack Queen in ​New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Nia Williams)

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Shooting at South Carolina State University leaves 2 dead, 1 wounded

February 13, 2026
Shooting at South Carolina State University leaves 2 dead, 1 wounded

Orangeburg, S.C.— Two people are dead and another is wounded after a shooting at a South Carolina State University residential complex, the university said Thursday.

University officials haven't confirmed the victims' identities or the condition of the person wounded, the school said in a news release.

There was no word about the whereabouts of any suspect or suspects.The school put the campus on lockdown at about 9:15 p.m. when a report of the shooting came in. The lockdown was lifted early Friday, the university said.Investigators were on site and law enforcement was patrolling the campus and areas nearby. The university canceled Friday classes and was making counselors available to students.

Kaya Mack had just finished making a food delivery on campus when she heard gunshots and saw lots of police officers coming through a gate. She said she wasn't sure where the shots were coming from."Their loud sirens kind of shook me," she told CBS affiliate WLTX-TV. "We were looking around, me and other people on campus, we're all looking around like 'What's going on?'"

The Thursday night shooting happened a little over four months after two shootings during homecoming celebrations on Oct. 4. One, which happened near the same residential complex, killed a 19-year-old woman. A man was injured in the other shooting. Several people have been arrested on gun-related charges in connection with the those shootings.

Watch: Rep. Lieu accuses Bondi of lying under oath on Epstein files surrounding Trump

White tent set up on Nancy Guthrie's front porch

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‘Love Story’ Team Clarifies Why Daryl Hannah Was Not Involved in JFK Jr. Series From Ryan Murphy

February 13, 2026
'Love Story' Team Clarifies Why Daryl Hannah Was Not Involved in JFK Jr. Series From Ryan Murphy

Before Carol, there was Daryl.

Love Story, the latest glossy episodic feat from showrunnerRyan Murphy, is based on the 2024 bookOnce Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, by Elizabeth Beller, and explores the courtship and marriage of scionJohn F. KennedyJr. and fashion maven Carolyn Bessette.

However, the first three episodes feature another one ofJFKJr.'s love stories -- the one between him and Emmy-nominated actress Daryl Hannah. PerGold Derby, the two engaged in an on-and-off "dalliance" that spanned the late '80s to the early '90s.

Portrayed byDree Hemingway(yes, that Hemingway; Ernest is her great-grandfather; Mariel, her mother), Daryl attempts to save her relationship with JFK Jr., played by Paul Kelly, despite the disapproving calls from the Kennedy family.

In a not-so-surprising move, producer Nina Jacobson told Gold Derby that the crew didn't reach out to Hannah for input about her experience in the Kennedy orbit. Fans of Murphy's true-story-inspired projects are probably accustomed to the producer taking some artistic liberties with his fare and doesn't "solicit the input of the real people that are being depicted."

She did say, however, that they were "mindful" and "respectful" of the relationship.

"The only time we've really interfaced with the real person was with Monica Lewinsky onImpeachment," said Jacobson, who shares executive-producing responsibilities onLove Storywith Brad Simpson (Crazy Rich Asians) and creator/showrunner Connor Hines (Dollface).

Previous projects that saw Jacobson and Murphy team up include American Crime Story and Pose.

JFK Jr. and Caroline Bessette-Kennedy married in September 1996 in a private, intimate ceremony at the First African Baptist Church on Cumberland Island, Georgia. The two died together, when their aircraft piloted by JFK Jr. crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.

Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessettepremiered tonight, Feb. 12, on FX. The first three episodes are now streaming onHulu.

🎬SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox🎬

Related: JFK Jr.'s Complete Dating History: Who Did He Romance Before Carolyn Bessette?

This story was originally published byParadeon Feb 13, 2026, where it first appeared in theNewssection. Add Parade as aPreferred Source by clicking here.

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Taylor Swift Shares Behind-the-Scenes Glimpse of 'Hysterical' 'Opalite' Music Video Shoot: 'I Never Want to Forget'

February 13, 2026
Taylor Swift Shares Behind-the-Scenes Glimpse of 'Hysterical' 'Opalite' Music Video Shoot: 'I Never Want to Forget'

Taylor Swift/Instagram; Taylor Swift/Apple Music

People Taylor Swift and Domhall Gleeson behind-the-scenes of the 'Opalite' music video shoot Taylor Swift/Instagram; Taylor Swift/Apple Music

NEED TO KNOW

  • Taylor Swift shared a behind-the-scenes look at the music video for her song "Opalite" on Friday, Feb. 13

  • The video stars Domhnall Gleeson, Lewis Capaldi, Greta Lee, Jodie Turner-Smith and Graham Norton along with a surprise cameo from Cillian Murphy

  • "I never want to forget a single detail of this hysterical shoot, and now I don't have to!" Swift wrote as she shared two extended videos offering a glimpse into how the video came together

Taylor Swiftis taking fans behind-the-scenes of herstar-studded "Opalite" music video!

On Friday, Feb. 13, a week after the pop superstar premiered the 90s-inspired video on Feb. 7, the 36-year-old shared a series of photos of the shoot on herInstagram.

"I never want to forget a single detail of this hysterical shoot, and now I don't have to!" Swift wrote, adding that she was "excited" to share more of the music video with "two extended versions full of dance lessoning, our phenomenal cameos, camcorder footage, gigantic scrunchies & fanny pack angles!"

"Parts 1 & 2 are out now at link in bio," Swift added.

In the hilarious photos, Swift — and her video costarsDomhnall GleesonandGraham Norton— could be seen pulling shocked expressions as they appeared to view scenes from the shoot on an iPad alongside cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, who shot the video.

The snap was taken from the moment in the video where Norton appears as a seller of 'Nope-Alite,' which 'Reverses Opalite' — an alternative spray to 'Opalite' which is marketed as a "revolutionary fix for your problems" at the start of the video.

The surreal video begins with a commercial for 'Opalite' spray, which is meant to fix people's problems and turn their "crappiness into happiness."

Other photos showed Swift and Gleeson posing in their matching sequin tracksuits for their funny dance routine, along with how the duo shot the mall escalator scene. The mall used in the video is a real-life, run-down mall in Croydon, England, which wastransformed into a nostalgic wonderlandfor the shoot.

Swift could also be seen designing the cootie catcher used in the video, while her and Gleeson were shown cracking up at something they were viewing on an iPad in their matching tracksuits and posing like bunnies in a shot from the photo shoot scene with Prieto.

Along with Gleeson and Norton, the video also starsLewis Capaldi,Greta LeeandJodie Turner-Smith, along with a surprise cameo fromCillian Murphy. The idea for the video came to Swift while she was a guest onThe Graham Norton Showwith the stars on the day her latest album dropped on Oct. 3, 2025.

Taylor Swift's BTS of 'Opalite' Taylor Swift/Instagram

Taylor Swift/Instagram

"Opalite" is the second music video from Swift's 2025 albumThe Life of a Showgirl, following on from "The Fate of Ophelia."

Much like that video, Swift also recruited some of her Eras Tour dancers for the shoot.

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In a further glimpse of the behind-the-scenes of the video, Swift posted aclipon her Instagram Stories showing her holding a camcorder and recording herself in a mirror.

"All right, so we are on set for the 'Opalite' music video," Swift told the camera. "Honestly, my best look ever," she added as she zoomed in to show herself sporting brown hair, a yellow scrunchie and an old-fashioned nightie.

The clip then showed the various different sets for the music video and Swift arriving on set.

"Okay, so I'm dance lessoning?" Swift asked as she took off her black cap. "Yes!" she said excitedly after being told this was the case.

She was then seen learning the routine for the video on a stage.

Taylor Swift in the 'Opalite' music video Taylor Swift/Instagram

Taylor Swift/Instagram

In her Feb. 7Instagram postto accompany the premiere of the video, Swift explained how the idea for the video came to her onThe Graham Norton Showafter Gleeson noted that he wanted to be "in a Taylor Swift video." (During the show' Swift's face could be seen lighting up at Gleeson's request.)

"My favorite part about writing is that first spark of an idea. It can happen at any time, for any reason," Swift wrote on Instagram on Feb. 7. "The idea for the Opalite music video crash landed into my imagination when I was doing promo forThe Life of a Showgirl."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE'sfree daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

"I was a guest on one of my favorite shows,@TheGrahamNortonShowOfficial... I remember thinking I got ridiculously lucky with the group I was paired with. Cillian Murphy, Domhnall Gleeson, Greta Lee, @JodieSmith, and @LewisCapaldi. All people whose work I've admired from afar," she continued, recalling the October 2025 appearance on the show.

"When we were all talking during the broadcast, Domhnall made a light-hearted joke about wanting to be in one of my music videos. He's Irish! He was joking! Except that in that moment during the interview, I was instantly struck with an *idea*," she continued.

She added that she thought it would be fun if all her co-guests worked together on her new video like a "school group project, but for adults, and it isn't mandatory."

Read the original article onPeople

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Kate Middleton ‘Pushed Hard’ To Move Ex-Prince Andrew Away From Home — Source

February 13, 2026
Photo Credit: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

The British monarchy is once again facing scrutiny following renewed public attention surroundingAndrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Amid mounting pressure and a fresh wave of damaging headlines, senior royals have begun addressing the situation more directly.

According to a royal insider, the Princess of Wales has reportedly been particularly firm behind the scenes. The source alleges thatKate Middletonplayed a key role in advocating for physical and public distance between her family and ex-Prince Andrew.

Kate Middleton 'pushed hard' for 'distance' between Ex-Prince Andrew and them, says source

According to an insider quoted byThe i Paper, Kate Middleton was reportedly "very firm" in discussions about how her family should respond as new revelations surfaced. The source claims she "pushed hard" for Andrew to be moved away from Windsor. "She could see the problematic optics with Andrew being so close to their new home," the insider added.

The Prince and Princess of Wales recently issued public comments on the broader scandal through a spokesperson. In thestatement, they expressed "deep concern" over the continuing developments and emphasized that their thoughts remain with the victims.

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Notably, their statement did not mention Andrew by name. However, the timing, being close to William's Saudi Arabia visit, signaled what some observers claimed was a deliberate attempt to address the issue head-on.

"It was William and Catherine's joint decision to make a statement," a royal insider alleged. The source claimed that the couple did not want to appear as though they were "shying away from the situation."

Royal historian Ed Owens has suggested the institution is navigating a "genuine crisis." Owens further argued that the royal family has been forced into a reactive position. King Charles, who previously stripped Andrew of his remaining royal titles and roles, is said to be in what one insider described as an "impossible position."

For Middleton, sources suggest the priority is reportedly safeguarding the monarchy's long-term reputation. As a future queen, she is allegedly keenly aware of how closely public trust is tied to perception. According to the insider, ensuring visible distance now could prevent more serious reputational damage later.

The postKate Middleton 'Pushed Hard' To Move Ex-Prince Andrew Away From Home — Sourceappeared first onReality Tea.

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His family fled Afghanistan facing threats for supporting US troops. Now he sits in ICE custody at risk of being sent back

February 13, 2026
His family fled Afghanistan facing threats for supporting US troops. Now he sits in ICE custody at risk of being sent back

When Said Noor, a US Army veteran, picked up a phone call on December 2, he immediately knew something was wrong.

CNN Lal Mohammad Noorwali (far right) with brothers Bakhtullah (left) and Naqibullah (middle) at a Veteran’s Day celebration, November 11, 2021. The family arrived in the US in September 2021. - Said Noor

His brother Lal was in Laredo, Texas, several hours south of their home in Austin, nervously explaining that the commercial truck he drove had been stopped at a Customs and Border Protection checkpoint.

When the agents asked if he was a US citizen, Lal, 28, answered honestly: He isn't. He, his mother and five of his brothers and sisters had fled Afghanistan in the wake of the US' military withdrawal, and he is currently awaiting a decision on an asylum claim he submitted years ago.

As Said stayed on the line with his younger brother, Said could hear someone aggressively demanding to know who Lal had called and why. Said told Lal to provide whatever the officials needed so he could go, but his brother sounded worried, so Said told him to pass the phone to the agent.

He tried to calm the agent down, he told CNN.

"I told him 'sir, let's just talk to each other as adults, right?' I was like, 'you're an officer and you took an oath to defend the Constitution.' I said, 'I have done the same thing, I was in the Army, I'm a veteran right now,'" he said.

That seemed to defuse the situation somewhat, Said recalled, but the man kept repeating that Lal is "not allowed to be here" in the US. Said tried to explain that Lal, who is married to a US citizen, was brought to the US legally through the US military's evacuation of Afghanistan, an effort largely aimed at protecting families like his who had worked with American troops and faced threats from the Taliban. He tried to explain Lal's pending asylum case, the legal process through which Lal was trying to gain permanent status in the US along with 80,000 other Afghan nationals who fled the country and have similarly looked to create new homes in America.

But soon the phone was handed to a second agent. He was told that they were working to verify Lal's status.

Afghan asylum cases had received bipartisan support until a sharp shift in tone after an Afghan refugee shot two members of the National Guard in Washington, DC in November days before Lal was stopped at the checkpoint.

Hours passed, with Said continuing to communicate with his brother while the agents waited for a response from the Department of Homeland Security. But then the communication stopped. Said could still see Lal's location on the app Life360, but he couldn't get in touch with him, and when he called a nearby border patrol station, no one seemed to be able to find him.

For two days, Said told CNN he couldn't find his brother — he called several border checkpoints but found himself trapped in a cycle of transferred calls.

One officer even told Said to call the Afghan embassy; when he explained there was no Afghan embassy in the US because the Taliban was in control of the country, the officer said to call the Taliban, the same group that Said told CNN had detonated a bomb just outside of his family's home in 2020, killing several people, in retaliation for his work with US troops.

Finally, Said found Lal – he was being held at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement-run Webb County Detention Facility.

"I came to America a legal way," Lal told CNN from the detention facility in Laredo during a December interview, saying he and his family just want the chance to "live a good life."

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin confirmed Lal was detained on December 1, after he'd been referred for secondary inspection at a border patrol point of entry. McLaughlin called Lal a "criminal illegal alien" whose "criminal history includes previous arrests for assault and damage to property."

Court documents shared by Lal's family, however, show that a charge of "criminal mischief" against Lal, brought in 2023, was dismissed by a judge in Galveston, Texas, resulting in no conviction or finding of guilt. Said told CNN the incident revolved around an allegation that Lal had broken another person's phone, which Lal denied. The charge was dismissed due to there being no witnesses, the motion to dismiss said, and the family said that it was Lal's only run in with law enforcement.

McLaughlin also said Lal was told to pull over in December because his work authorization had expired, but Said explained that he had already applied for a renewal. Lal was issued a commercial driver's license in Texas in August 2025, which expires in 2034.

McLaughlin did not respond to follow-up questions regarding the dismissed charge or his work authorization renewal.

While Lal expected to have his final court hearing on February 12, a request by his lawyer to delay the hearing was granted as they seek to resolve the issue outside of court. Without an agreement, Lal will find out on March 10 if he is being deported back to the country he'd fled with his family nearly five years ago.

The bombing area at Abbey Gate is pictured August 26, 2021, in Kabul, Afghanistan, before the blast. A review released Monday, April 15, 2024, says the suicide bombing at the Kabul airport that killed U.S. troops and Afghans in August 2021 was not preventable, and the “bald man in black” spotted by U.S. service members the morning of the attack was not the bomber. - US Central Command/AP

Waning support for Afghan refugees

Lal and his family are among thousands of Afghans who were brought to the US as the country fell to Taliban rule in August 2021. The panic to flee materialized ina chaotic, frantic period of daysas men, women, and children begged US and allied military partners to get them on a plane — any plane — out of the country. Children were handed over barbed wire at Hamid Karzai International Airport to US troops in desperate attempts to get them to safety.

The monumental task of getting civilians out of the country — primarily focused on Afghans who worked with the US government and military, and their immediate family members — resulted in the evacuation of more than 124,000 people, the Air Force later said. Dubbed Operation Allies Refuge, it was the largest non-combatant evacuation in US history.

Lal's family was evacuated ina daring rescueorganized by service members on the ground in coordination with Democrat Rep. Seth Moulton, a Marine veteran who traveled to Afghanistan with Republican Rep. Peter Meijer amid the withdrawal.

Like many, the family was facing particular danger given Said's work with the US military as a civilian interpreter and later service as a soldier. Said moved to the US in 2014, joined the US Army in 2016, and was honorably discharged in August 2020.

At the time of the US evacuation, and for several years afterwards, there was strong bipartisan support for providing refugee status for Afghan families that had aided the US during the twenty years of operations in that country.

In 2022, now-Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltzcriticized the Biden administrationfor "abandoning" Afghan allies and called for officials to be held accountable for the "unkept promises of security for their safety." Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, an Army veteran,called onformer President Joe Biden to keep troops in Afghanistan "until we have rescued every American citizen and those Afghans who risked their lives for American troops." In August 2021, abipartisan group of 55 senatorsurged Biden in a letter to expedite the evacuation of Afghan Special Immigrant Visa recipients and their families.

But that support has faded, especially in the wake of a November shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, DC. One soldier, Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, died. The suspect was identified as a 29-year-old Afghan man who came to the US in the wake of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, further fueling criticism from Trump administration officials about vetting of refugees.

CNNpreviously reportedthat the man, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, underwent numerous rounds of vetting starting in 2011 as he worked with US military and intelligence agencies. He was ultimately approved for permanent asylum by the Trump administration last year.

In the wake of the shooting, the Trump administration announced thatthe processing of all immigration casesfor Afghan immigrants was being "stopped indefinitely" pending further review.

President Donald Trump said at the time that he planned to pause asylum applications for "a long time."

"We don't want those people," Trump said aboard Air Force One.

In the wake of November's shooting, detentions and efforts against Afghan immigrants have "definitely ramped up," Jordan Weinberg, Lal's attorney at Atlas Immigration Law, told CNN.

"We are seeing a much higher difficulty for Afghans," Weinberg said.

After the attack, US Citizenship and Immigration Servicesannouncedit would be undertaking a "full scale, rigorous reexamination" of green cards issued to people from 19 countries "of concern," including Afghanistan.

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McLaughlin previouslysaid in a statementthat DHS was "indefinitely" stopping the processing of all immigration requests related to Afghan nationals "pending further review," including asylum cases approved under the Biden administration.

McLaughlin told CNN this week that Operation Allies Welcome and Operation Allies Refuge "let thousands of unvetted Afghan nationals including terrorists, sexual predators, pedophiles, domestic abusers, and kidnappers into our country."

"Under Secretary (Kristi) Noem, DHS has been going full throttle on identifying and arresting known or suspected terrorists and criminal illegal aliens that came in through Biden's fraudulent parole programs and working to get the criminals and public safety threats OUT of our country," McLaughlin said.

Targeted by the Taliban

The year before he helped his family flee, Said was visiting them at their family home in Khost Province in Afghanistan. He'd just left the US Army as a sergeant, deciding to depart the service because he was not authorized to travel to Afghanistan as an off-duty US soldier, he said, and he wanted to help them with their immigration paperwork.

For years, even before Said moved to the US and joined the military, his family had been targeted by the Taliban, he said. His work with the US as a civilian interpreter had not gone unnoticed by the militant group, and he'd hoped to bring his family to the safety of the US.

He'd been home in Afghanistan for roughly a week when his family held a gathering at their home, giving him a chance to talk to friends and family he hadn't been able to see in years: school friends, cousins, other distant relatives and neighbors that he'd missed after moving to the US.

Said Noor on deployment in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, 2018. - Said Noor

Said recalled noticing a motorcycle outside the door to his family's home; he and others assumed it belonged to one of the guests. Said was walking some friends out the front door when the motorcycle detonated.

Dust was everywhere, making it difficult to breath, Said and Lal recalled. Windows were shattered, injured survivors were calling out for help, and the dead bodies of friends torn apart by the blast were now strewn across the ground.

Lal had been on the roof of the house. The blast "literally picked him up and threw him onto the ground," Said said. The family thought he'd been killed. When Lal regained consciousness, he thought he was dreaming, he told CNN from the detention facility in Texas, until he saw the dead.

"I can't sleep, I get nightmares when I'm sleeping," he told CNN, his voice cracking. "The people there, they died in front of me, in our home."

Lal's asylum claim paperwork, submitted in 2022, says six people were killed and more than a dozen others injured. The Taliban ultimately claimed responsibility, Said told CNN.

The family had been targeted because of his service, Said believes, both for helping the American forces while he was a civilian in Afghanistan and later when he put on the US Army uniform.

"There's no future for them, no safety. There's no mercy at all from the Taliban," Said said of the threats against his family. "Lal's fear is not based on imagination; his fear is based on memories."

Lal and Said's father and brother-in-law have faced detention by the Taliban in recent years, both brothers told CNN, weighing heavily on their mother who is now in the US.

Said felt strongly about supporting the US, he said, feeling that America "believed in human rights," and that he would do "whatever it takes" to help the Americans prevail.

Official military records show Said joined the US military in October 2016 and served as an interpreter, deploying back to Afghanistan as a soldier for eight months in 2018. While deployed there, Said worked with senior military officers and even worked with local media, he recalled — a job that made him recognizable to the Taliban. He attended senior-level meetings alongside US officials as a translator, and appeared in photos with senior Afghan and US officials, including now-retired Gen. Austin "Scott" Miller, the last senior commander overseeing US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Lal and Said have a brother currently serving in the US Army and a younger sister who wants to join the US Air Force, Said said. He describes theirs as a US military family who care deeply about service and simply wanted a safer life for themselves.

"We believed in this country, right?" Said told CNN. "I risked my life for this country. I never imagined that I would be begging one day just to keep my brother alive, here in America, while he hasn't done anything wrong."

On the official DHS document provided to Lal, outlining the reason for his detention and saying he is subject to removal from the US, the allegations listed say only that he is not a citizen of the US and that he was paroled into the US after arriving through Operation Allies Refuge.

"You are immigrant not in possession of a valid immigrant visa, reentry permit, border crossing identification card, or other valid entry document as required by the Immigration and Nationality Act," the document says.

A shift after November's shooting

Lal's detention happened just days after the November shooting, as the Trump administration was rapidly closing doors for Afghan refugees — and refugees from several other countries — to find ways to stay in the US.

In 2025, the Trump administrationrevoked 85,000 visasof all categories as part of a broader attempt to limit who can come to the US. Last month, the administration institutedan indefinite suspensionof immigrant visa processing for people from 75 countries, including Afghanistan. Lawmakers have also fiercely debated the topic of visas for Afghans, and just this month Congress declined to authorize any additional special immigrants visas for Afghans who worked with the US.

Top White House aide Stephen Miller railed against asylum seekers at the southern border ina post on Xearlier this month, saying there is a "multibillion dollar fraudulent industry" to file "fake asylum applications."

"Federal law requires illegal aliens to be detained pending a hearing for their (fake) asylum claim," Miller said.

Heather Hogan, policy and practice counsel at American Immigration Lawyers Association, said Miller's assertion that it is required to detain immigrants awaiting their asylum claim is "definitely not accurate."

"In the past, asylum seekers were largely left to pursue their cases and work and live, and their kids could go to school while they were going through the motions of their cases because what is the utility of detaining them?" Hogan said. "When they could otherwise be and want to be working and participating in their communities and providing for their families and themselves?"

Hogan also said lawyers with AILA have reported seeing a more "aggressive" stance from the government toward Afghans in particular, including those who previously worked with the US government in Afghanistan.

People who worked with the US and are still in Afghanistan have faced revenge killings by the Taliban, according to human rights groups.Amnesty International, for example, reported Taliban officials beating, killing or disappearing Afghans who worked with the former government or served in the Afghan National Security Forces. In the weeks after the US' withdrawal, Human Rights Watchalso reportedthe killing or disappearance of at least 47 former members of the ANSF.

Lal has already gone to extraordinary lengths for a chance at a new life in the US.

He and his sisterwere shepherding her five young childrento the gates of the Kabul airport, part of the desperate crowd attempting to flee, when a suicide bomber attacked Abbey Gate, killing 13 US troops and roughly 170 Afghan civilians.

Said recalled speaking to his brother right after the attack, asking him if he was sure he still wanted to try to escape with their family, knowing what danger they could face.

"Lal clearly said, 'Yes, (it would be) better to die here than be in the hands of the Taliban,'" Said told CNN. "Just think about it — you saw people die in front of you, but you still want to take that risk for your entire family to get into the base, to come to the United States. Lal did not want to give up."

This story has been updated.

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