A North Texas woman detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement upon returning from her honeymoon earlier this year was released from an immigration detention center late Tuesday night, her attorneys told 四虎影院 Wednesday.
ICE agents took Ward Sakeik, a 22-year-old photographer and University of Texas at Arlington graduate, into custody in February. She and her husband, 28-year-old Taahir Shaikh, were flying into Miami on the way back from their honeymoon in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The two married in January.
Sakeik has been in ICE detention for 140 days, mostly at the El Valle Detention Center an hour outside of McAllen and, up until now, the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, about 40 minutes southwest of Dallas. She鈥檚 now with her husband at their Arlington home, her attorneys said.
Sakeik鈥檚 attorneys said they weren't told why Sakeik was being released.
鈥淭here has been a series of completely illegal, unlawful actions that ICE has taken since their first encounter with Ward when she was on her honeymoon in a U.S. territory,鈥� Maria Kari, one of Sakeik鈥檚 attorneys, told 四虎影院.
In an email to 四虎影院, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the arrest was not part of a targeted ICE operation.
鈥淪he chose to fly over international waters and outside the U.S. customs zone and was then flagged by CBP trying to [reenter] the continental U.S.,鈥� McLaughlin said. 鈥淪he 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.鈥�
Sakeik was born to a refugee family in Saudi Arabia and came with them to the U.S. when she was 8 on a travel visitor's visa, he said. Sakeik cannot obtain citizenship in Saudi Arabia and is considered stateless.
Sakeik had an order for removal after her family first tried to seek asylum in the U.S., but she was allowed to remain in the country while regularly checking in with the ICE office in Dallas, her husband and attorneys said.
Sakeik鈥檚 husband, who is a U.S. citizen, said she is in the process of getting a green card. Despite that, Sakeik isn鈥檛 protected from deportation under the law, but Sakeik wouldn鈥檛 be a priority for deportation under other administrations as she doesn鈥檛 pose a credible threat, cannot easily or safely be deported to another country and has complied with the conditions of her ICE supervision, Sakeik's attorney Eric Lee said.
鈥淭his is not about enforcement of immigration law, this is about a very, very narrow view of who belongs in the United States, and really just trying to cleanse the United States population of anyone who doesn't fit into that narrow view,鈥� Lee said.
ICE officials told the couple's attorneys Sakeik was facing imminent deportation to an undisclosed location, her husband told reporters last month. The attorneys filed a federal petition for writ of habeas corpus June 22 in an attempt to secure her release.
According to that document, DHS attempted to deport Sakeik to Israel June 11, but that process was halted. DHS gave Sakeik four possible reasons why, according to the petition: no travel document had been issued yet, the ongoing conflict in Israel, Iran and Gaza, officials wanted her to travel using a commercial flight instead of a charter and Israel refused to accept her.
According to a different court filing June 24, U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade ordered DHS not to take any further action to attempt to deport Sakeik. That document was signed by one of Sakeik's attorneys, not the judge.
Attorney Chris Godshall-Bennett said officials again attempted to deport Sakeik Monday, but he and his co-counsel weren鈥檛 told where, and they鈥檙e unsure what changed between Monday and Tuesday.
Sakeik repeatedly tried to tell ICE there had been a restraining order in her habeas petition, Godshall-Bennett said, but the officers weren鈥檛 interested and called Sakeik鈥檚 attempts to talk to them 鈥渞anting.鈥�
鈥淲hat the Trump administration tried to do on Monday was, as far as we can tell, to violate a federal court order that prohibited the administration from removing this young woman who has lived in the United States since she was eight years old and is stateless, has no country of citizenship,鈥� Godshall-Bennett said.
McLaughlin, the DHS spokesperson, said Sakeik鈥檚 release came after the family filed the correct paperwork.
鈥淔ollowing her American husband and her filing the appropriate legal applications for her to remain in the country and become a legal permanent resident, she was released from ICE custody,鈥� she said in the email.
Sakeik鈥檚 case is one of a series in which President Donald Trump鈥檚 administration has tried to push for deportation in the face of court orders, notably against Palestinians.
A Northern District of Texas magistrate judge recommended last week that a Palestinian woman from New Jersey also detained at Prairieland be released. Despite an immigration judge granting her bond, an immediate appeal by DHS triggered an automatic pause in the case that has kept Leqaa Kordia detained.
Before that, a judge , a lawful permanent resident and Columbia student arrested after his participation in the campus protests last spring, from an immigration detention center in Louisiana.
Sakeik鈥檚 husband said she hasn鈥檛 been outspoken about the war in Gaza or her heritage.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations and its North Texas chapter lauded Sakeik鈥檚 release.
"Words cannot effectively express our sincere appreciation for the much-awaited release of Ms. Ward Sakeik from ICE detention that lasted over 120 days,鈥� CAIR-DFW executive director Mustafaa Carroll said in a statement. 鈥淲e are extremely pleased that she is now able to rejoin her husband and continue building their life together."
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