A recently married Texas couple has spent over 120 days apart after the bride was detained by ICE during their honeymoon in the US Virgin Islands.
Taahir Shaikh of Arlington says his wife, Ward Sakeik, was arrested by ICE in St. Thomas in February, despite having a pending green card application and documentation of her stateless status.
“She’s considered stateless, which essentially just means you’re born in a country that doesn’t give you birthright citizenship. And since she was a Palestinian refugee that was born in Saudi Arabia, they weren’t recognized as Saudi nationals,” Shaikh told NBC DFW.
Shaikh stated that Sakeik was just 8 years old when her family landed in the United States on a visa. Despite the dismissal of their asylum case, the government refrained from deporting Sakeik due to her lack of citizenship. Instead, the government placed them under monitoring and required them to report to immigration authorities once a year.
According to her husband, Sakeik was only eight years old when her family arrived in America on a visa.
Despite the dismissal of their asylum case, the government refrained from deporting them due to their lack of citizenship. Instead, the government placed them under monitoring and required them to report to immigration authorities once a year.
Sakeik has now graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington and is currently working as a wedding photographer. Shaikh stated that she has always followed immigration regulations for the past 14 years.
Sakeik is currently being imprisoned at Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado after spending months in McAllen, and her green card application is still delayed due to her detention.
During the early months of their marriage, the couple communicated through weekly visits and video conversations.
“She constantly says, ‘When I get through this phase of my life, what am I not able to endure after this?’” Shaikh told the outlet about his wife.
He says they meticulously chose to spend their honeymoon in the United States Virgin Islands, believing it would not endanger her pending immigration status.
The couple’s legal team is doing everything possible to save her from being deported. Sakeik has already been detained for more than 120 days, despite the fact that stateless individuals in removal procedures are normally released after 90 days.
ICE addressed Sakeik’s arrest in a statement to NBC DFW, writing, “The arrest of Ward Sakeik was not part of a targeted operation by ICE. She chose to leave the country and was then flagged by CBP trying to re-enter the U.S.
“The facts are she is in our country illegally. She overstayed her visa and has had a final order by an immigration judge for over a decade. President Trump and Secretary Noem are committed to restoring integrity to the visa program and ensuring it is not abused to allow aliens a permanent one-way ticket to remain in the U.S.”
ICE concluded, “She had a final order of removal since 2011. Her appeal of the final order was dismissed by the Board of Immigration Appeals on February 12, 2014. She has exhausted her due process rights and all of her claims for relief have been denied by the courts.”