American Freedom Law Center

The American Freedom Law Center’s mission is to fight for faith and freedom through litigation, education, and public policy programs. AFLC aggressively seeks to advance and defend our Nation’s Judeo-Christian heritage in the courts. In one of our representative cases, AFLC is standing alongside a patriotic American family who has been subjected to a massive, full-spectrum media, litigation, and government agency "lawfare" campaign. This American family is fighting to protect a precious little girl from terrorism and the Taliban, and to see truth and justice prevail.

Help Patriotic American Family in Their Fight to #KeepHerSafe - read the Counterclaim Complaint in the federal lawsuit (pp 63-83). Consider the hyperlinked documents and pictures. Read our newest press release. Donate to AFLC. This family—a U.S. Marine and his wife—is not just fighting a custody case—they are battling a network of Taliban-linked operatives; U.S. government officials; lawyers; and biased media knowingly trying to erase the truth. If they can do it to this family, they can do it to yours.

The Backstory - Terrorism vs. Compassion

AFLC is helping in the family's fight to protect their now 5-year-old little girl, rescued by Army Rangers after her non-Afghan foreign fighter presumed father was killed and her mother detonated a suicide improvised explosive device (IED) outside a terrorist compound on the night of 5-6 Sep 2019. The man died throwing grenades at the Rangers; the woman's suicide IED explosion mortally wounded her, and severely injured the 6-week-old baby she was carrying in her arms. The blast snapped her tiny leg, causing a compound fracture. Eyewitness Rangers (see ¶ 8-9) retrieved the baby girl from the ground beside her dead mother, during the harrowing mission to combat foreign terrorists in Afghanistan. An Afghan government soldier tried to take the baby from the Rangers and shoot her, but the Rangers refused, and medevac'd her instead. 

But the fight for her safety didn’t end that night. In the coming weeks and months, dozens of U.S. military members sought to ensure she was treated and protected and only given to actual family. And no family was found - only a plethora of claimants linked to the Taliban, making contradictory claims.

Among the U.S. military members, a courageous Marine sought and received permission in 2019 from his command (within U.S. Forces - Afghanistan or "USFOR-A") to seek guardianship for the baby, to bring her to America. Her foreign terrorist parents were dead, and she had severe medical needs. The Virginia Office of the Attorney general provided guidance (see ¶ 37-46) to the Marine. Two Virginia courts agreed with him, as did the U.S. Department of Defense.

But in 2020, State Department officials intervened to prevent proper vetting of "family" claimants and stop former Afghan government approval of the child’s treatment under her U.S. guardianship. At the time, a condition of the "peace deal" was that there were no foreign mujahideen present in Afghanistan. The State Department wanted to get rid of the evidence of foreign jihadists in Afghanistan to allow a quick withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Afghanistan (a failed, chaotic, and tragic withdrawal of U.S. forces under the Biden Administration ultimately resulted in dead Marines and thousands of dead Afghan allies).

State Department officials caused the child to be handed over to an elderly Taliban-linked Afghan man, by refusing the Afghan government's request to perform a DNA test to prove he was actually family, and without providing proper terrorism vetting. This man, John Doe's father, falsely claimed to be her "oldest" "uncle" (both lies, to cover up the fact that she was the daughter of foreign fighters). Skeptical Afghan officials requested that the U.S. perform a DNA test, but U.S. officials refused and pressured the Afghans to complete the handoff deal anyways. The State Department wanted the baby gone, regardless of her best interests. So the State Department abandoned this baby, much like it would soon abandon the good people of Afghanistan.

But the courageous Marine refused to abandon the little girl, and ultimately completed a legal adoption in 2020. He brought her to safety in the U.S. during the 2021 Afghan airlift (while helping dozens of Afghan interpreters and families at the same time). She has now lived with the Marine and his wife who have lovingly cared for her as their daughter for over three years. Now 5 years old, she speaks English like any other kindergartner, loves her daddy, mommy, and three older brothers dearly; and has a special relationship with her younger brother, the baby of the family. 

The Fight for Truth and Justice

This American family now faces a relentless lawfare battle as "John Doe" (an Afghan man who has no legal rights to the child - even under Afghan law) fights to take her away. John Doe and his wife knowingly used the girl's US identity and the relationship of the Marine to his daughter (their "lottery ticket") to get themselves out of Afghanistan, and then made false accusations.

"John Doe" and his wife are in America now - the land of plenty - with a car, great jobs, a home, and a lifestyle they could never afford in Afghanistan (p. 33-39). John Doe and his wife have media promoting their false narrative, and massive international law firms (the kind that love to represent jihadists) and federal agencies behind them, all of whom are amplifying "the Big Lie" John Doe first told at Fort Pickett to keep his teen bride happy. But he's here only because the Marine refused to leave this ungrateful man and his wife behind to face the Taliban.

Yet John Doe has lied multiple times. He is not related to the child. His father isn't an "uncle," and isn't even "older" than the supposed "younger" "peaceful farmer." Even if everything John Doe says about "family" relation is true (which it isn't), he has no rights under Afghan law. He has known all of this from the outset.

• John Doe hid documents that directly corroborated his Taliban ties and contradicted his lawsuit claims.
• Federal discovery documents received back from John Doe show that he was identified with a direct age, name, and country match on the terror watchlist (see ¶ 81-82; see also pg. 36-39) when he got to Dulles, immediately before the Marine took custody at Fort Pickett. Whistleblowers report that the US government has deleted the BEWL hits for other known or suspected terrorists and terrorist-affiliated persons.
• John Doe's father publicly displayed Taliban flags and messaging on his WhatsApp profile (until John Doe's lawyers found out).
• John Doe's father lied to the former Afghan government that he was the "older brother" of the baby's father. The man John Doe claims is the baby's father is 5 years older than John Doe's father. John Doe and his father have known this from the beginning.
• John Doe falsely claimed that the Red Cross had located a "maternal uncle" to bolster his own false claims (see p. 10). He later admitted under oath this claimed "maternal uncle" was an unrelated third party—another false claimant with ties to the Taliban.
• The "maternal uncle" claimant who is unrelated to John Doe currently displays Taliban flags and messages glorifying martyrs and terrorism. This man, like John Doe and his father, is part of a network of Taliban-linked figures attempting to distort the truth and take the child for themselves.
• John Doe has admitted that his other family members in Afghanistan have said THEY are the rightful custodians of the child - not him - and the Taliban is helping them! (See p.3). John Doe is even aware of yet "another family" that claims her! (See p.2). It is clear that the Taliban wants this little girl.

John Doe has refused to take a DNA test that would prove his claims of family ties to the girl. John Doe claims this little girl has brothers and sisters back in Afghanistan (also a lie) but has refused to ask these supposed brothers and sisters to provide a DNA test. No legitimate family members have come forward, and Doe’s fabrications about her supposed "siblings" only deepen the deception.

John Doe and his wife and their lawyers; the media; and the Taliban (to the disbelief of many Afghan commenters) have pushed a worldwide false "kidnapping" narrative against this American family, by utilizing “the Big Lie.” In fact, they convinced a federal judge to allow them to sue anonymously under the names “John and Jane Doe,” claiming they fear for their life, while suing the Marine and his family by name and that publicly. The Taliban and their agents in the United States have taken notice of this and have surely targeted the Marine and his family.

How You Can Help

This Marine and his wife are not just fighting for custody—they are fighting against powerful interests, including the Taliban; U.S. government officials bent on covering up their callous indifference to the fate of a child; and biased media determined to suppress and rewrite the truth. This family needs help in this fight.

The American Freedom Law Center is standing with the family, but the legal costs are overwhelming. Your donation to AFLC will help us in our important and life-saving work, including the fight to protect this precious girl and her family, and reveal the truth about the lies and manipulation surrounding this case.

This child has already survived the horrors of terrorism—we cannot let her be ripped away from her adoptive family and her new life in America, all because of callous lies.