North Texas Stateless Palestinian Woman Released After Five Months in ICE Custody

Ward Sakeik, a 22-year-old stateless Palestinian woman who has lived in the U.S. since childhood, was released from a Texas ICE detention facility after nearly five months in custody. Despite a federal court order barring her removal and her pending green card application, ICE attempted to deport her twice, including once by bringing her to the tarmac at Fort Worth Alliance Airport and threatening to send her to the border of Israel, a country where she holds no citizenship. Sakeik was detained in February upon returning from her honeymoon in the U.S. Virgin Islands and was picked up from the Prairieland Detention Center by her husband, Taahir Shaikh, a U.S. citizen. Her legal team condemned the deportation attempts as violations of her due process rights and unconstitutional, highlighting the challenges faced by stateless individuals under current immigration policies. The Department of Homeland Security has not clarified the reasons for her release. Advocates and attorneys criticize the Trump administration's immigration policies as cruel and depraved, especially given Sakeik's unique stateless status and the threat of being deported to countries where she has no legal ties.