Yasin Gungor
02 July 2025•Update: 02 July 2025
ISTANBUL
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released a stateless Palestinian woman Tuesday after nearly five months in detention and two deportation attempts, her lawyers said Wednesday.
Ward Sakeik, 22, who has lived in the US since she was 8, was released from the Prairieland Detention Center in the state of Texas and returned to her home in the Dallas-Fort Worth area with her American husband, Taahir Shaikh, according to the lawyers.
Sakeik was arrested by immigration officials in February on a return flight from the US Virgin Islands, where she had been honeymooning.
Her release came one day after ICE attempted to deport her on June 30 despite a federal court order prohibiting her removal. It marked the second unlawful deportation attempt by the US in recent weeks.
The first came June 12, when ICE officers told her they were deporting her to "the border of Israel," despite knowing she is stateless, said lawyers.
ICE has been making sweeping arrests nationwide under orders from President Donald Trump, who is pursuing his goal of deporting illegal immigrants.
