Ward Sakeik has no country to call home outside the U.S.
When U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement took the 22-year-old woman of Palestinian descent, a UTA alumna, into custody in February, she didn’t know where she would go. After over 140 days in detention and two failed deportation attempts, Sakeik was released Tuesday evening to her home in Arlington.
Sakeik was born in Saudi Arabia, which does not automatically grant citizenship to children of foreigners. When she was eight, her family moved to the U.S.
ICE has allowed them to remain in North Texas under supervision.
For 15 years, Sakeik and her family have regularly checked in with ICE’s Dallas agency. She has a pending green card application, which Sakeik said was in the “final stages” prior to her detainment.
“We have followed all immigration policies and have complied with every single thing, every single document, every single piece of paper,” Sakeik said in a press conference Thursday following her release.
She recently married Taahir Shaikh, a U.S. citizen, and they traveled to the U.S. Virgin Islands for their honeymoon. Sakeik was detained by ICE at the St. Thomas airport while returning home, she said.
“I was handcuffed for 16 hours without any water or food on the bus,” she said. “I was moved around like cattle.”
The Department of Homeland Security stated Sakeik’s travel over international waters as the official reason for the detainment, said Chris Godshall-Bennett, one of Sakeik’s attorneys.
“There was no lawful authority,” Godshall-Bennett said. “They did not follow any procedures that would be required, given that she was on a supervision.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to The Shorthorn’s request for comment.
Maria Kari, another of Sakeik’s attorneys, said the first deportation attempt came on June 12, in which they tried to put Sakeik on a plane heading to “the border of Israel.” After the incident, the Northern Texas U.S. District Court ruled to prevent further attempts to deport Sakeik.
Monday morning, ICE attempted to deport Sakeik despite having a federal court order prohibiting her removal already filed, according to a joint statement released from Ward’s attorneys Wednesday.
The next day, when an officer told Sakeik she was being released, she didn’t believe him, even when he came back with paperwork, she said. She wouldn’t believe him until she was walking outside.
On Thursday, two days after her release, a press conference was held for Sakeik, with her legal team, leaders within the Muslim community and various stakeholders present. During it, Sakeik shared details about the living conditions while in ICE confinement.
The “stateless” woman was held in three different locations: the Broward Transitional Center in Deerfield Beach, Florida; El Valle Detention Facility in Raymondville, Texas; and Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas.
Sakeik said the conditions in these facilities were “terrible,” with dust everywhere, bugs crawling around and unhygienic bathrooms.
“Women [were] getting sick left and right,” she said.
Texas Rep. Terry Meza, D-Irving, attended the conference in support of the larger immigrant community.
“I'm here in solidarity with the Muslim community as we work together to oppose what the current administration is doing against the Constitution and what they're doing to the immigrant community,” she said. “Immigrants are what make America great.”
Sakeik wasn’t aware of the thousands of people showing support for her case while in detention. But she wasn’t alone on the inside either. During her almost five months in detention, she grew close to the women in the facilities who were in similar predicaments.
Eventually, she asked the women to draw their home country’s flags and what they represented for an art project she wanted to hang in her office once she was free. Sakeik pointed to the piece during the press conference, showcasing nations from several continents.
“I want to share with you the honor of those who I left behind: women who come here for better lives and are voiceless and helpless,” she said. “A lot of these women don't have the money for lawyers or media outreach. They come here to provide for their families.”
Sakeik said she wants to focus on helping others held in the detention centers — however she can.
“I'm the only one that knows what it's like being in there and what these women are deprived of,” she said.
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