Sakeik was still trying to figure out why she was suddenly let out of ICE custody. The decision was so abrupt, she did not believe the ICE agent who interrupted her meal to inform her she would soon be free. <\/p>\n
\u201cI will not believe you until I am out of this tracksuit and I\u2019m back outside into the world,\u201d she said she told the agent. <\/p>\n
Ahead of the news conference, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin reiterated in a statement to The Dallas Morning News that Sakeik\u2019s arrest was not part of a targeted operation by ICE. The official added that Sakeik has had a deportation order for more than a decade \u2014 as she was lumped into her father\u2019s asylum case as a child \u2014 but the application was denied. <\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing 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,\u201d McLaughlin said. <\/p>\n
Related:ICE wants to deport North Texas newlywed. Lawyer says she\u2019s in \u2018procedural black hole\u2019<\/p>\n
DHS spokespeople didn\u2019t respond to questions about whether ICE had attempted to deport Sakeik on Monday. <\/p>\n
Following the DHS statement, Lee told The News Sakeik\u2019s Form I-130 \u2014 which the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services described as \u201cthe first step\u201d in helping an eligible relative apply for a Green Card \u2014 was approved before this week. <\/p>\n
During the news conference, Sakeik also responded to the stated reasons for her arrest.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t choose to be stateless,\u201d she said, adding she had no agency over her family\u2019s initial decision to come to the U.S. as a child. \u201cI didn\u2019t do a crime that made me stateless. I had no choice. I was just stateless.\u201d <\/p>\n
Apart from her own detention, Sakeik spoke lovingly about the other women she met in ICE facilities and the connections they fostered, including an art project they created showing the flags and representation of their countries. <\/p>\n
Standing behind her, Shaikh held up the drawing that includes flags from over 20 countries. There are blank spots \u2014 work Sakeik said was interrupted by her transfers or the others\u2019 deportations. <\/p>\n \u201cI 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,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re humans and their lives hold values and I will continue to fight with them, for them every single step of the way.\u201d <\/p>\n In particular, she spotlighted Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian woman who has been detained since March. Sakeik said they became close friends after her transfer to Prairieland last month. <\/p>\n Related:Palestinian woman\u2019s attorney argues for her release from North Texas immigration detention<\/p>\n Kordia\u2019s attorneys have been fighting for her release in federal court, saying she is being targeted for her participation in a pro-Palestinian protest near Columbia University. She was detained days after the high-profile arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia student who helped lead pro-Palestinian protests on the campus. The federal government has said the case is based on her overstaying a student visa.<\/p>\n On June 27, a magistrate judge in Dallas recommended the request for Kordia\u2019s release be granted, according to court records. The final decision from a district judge has yet to be issued. <\/p>\n \u201cLeqaa, if you\u2019re watching this,\u201d Sakeik said, \u201cI love you and I will continue to fight for you.\u201d <\/p>\n and make it easy for teens to read and understand.Organize the content with appropriate headings and subheadings (h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6), Retain any existing A North Texas newlywed who spent more than 140 days in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody said Thursday in her first public comments since her release that she does not blame the country that has been her home for more than a decade. But now, she feels a need to fight for those who are still in detention. <\/p>\n ICE detained Ward Sakeik, a 22-year-old stateless woman of Palestinian descent, in February as she was returning home from her honeymoon. On Tuesday night, she reunited with her husband, 28-year-old Taahir Shaikh, after being released from the Prairieland Detention Center \u2014 an ICE facility located less than an hour\u2019s drive south of her Arlington home.<\/p>\n Related:North Texas newlywed released from ICE detention after more than 140 days<\/p>\n Sakeik spoke to reporters about her experience and the two deportation attempts that her lawyers said happened last month. One of them took place as recently as Monday \u2014 despite a federal court prohibiting her removal \u2014 according to Eric Lee, one of her attorneys. <\/p>\n Breaking News<\/p>\n \u201cThe humanity that I was taught in middle school, elementary, high school and college growing up is not the humanity that I\u2019ve seen,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n Sakeik was joined by her husband, her legal team and Muslim leaders at a hotel in Irving, where she said she has previously photographed weddings. State Rep. Terry Meza, an Irving Democrat, spoke in support of her and immigrants in the Hispanic and Muslim communities.<\/p>\n Sakeik was still trying to figure out why she was suddenly let out of ICE custody. The decision was so abrupt, she did not believe the ICE agent who interrupted her meal to inform her she would soon be free. <\/p>\n \u201cI will not believe you until I am out of this tracksuit and I\u2019m back outside into the world,\u201d she said she told the agent. <\/p>\n Ahead of the news conference, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin reiterated in a statement to The Dallas Morning News that Sakeik\u2019s arrest was not part of a targeted operation by ICE. The official added that Sakeik has had a deportation order for more than a decade \u2014 as she was lumped into her father\u2019s asylum case as a child \u2014 but the application was denied. <\/p>\n \u201cFollowing 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,\u201d McLaughlin said. <\/p>\n Related:ICE wants to deport North Texas newlywed. Lawyer says she\u2019s in \u2018procedural black hole\u2019<\/p>\n DHS spokespeople didn\u2019t respond to questions about whether ICE had attempted to deport Sakeik on Monday. <\/p>\n Following the DHS statement, Lee told The News Sakeik\u2019s Form I-130 \u2014 which the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services described as \u201cthe first step\u201d in helping an eligible relative apply for a Green Card \u2014 was approved before this week. <\/p>\n During the news conference, Sakeik also responded to the stated reasons for her arrest.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t choose to be stateless,\u201d she said, adding she had no agency over her family\u2019s initial decision to come to the U.S. as a child. \u201cI didn\u2019t do a crime that made me stateless. I had no choice. I was just stateless.\u201d <\/p>\n Apart from her own detention, Sakeik spoke lovingly about the other women she met in ICE facilities and the connections they fostered, including an art project they created showing the flags and representation of their countries. <\/p>\n Standing behind her, Shaikh held up the drawing that includes flags from over 20 countries. There are blank spots \u2014 work Sakeik said was interrupted by her transfers or the others\u2019 deportations. <\/p>\n \u201cI 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,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re humans and their lives hold values and I will continue to fight with them, for them every single step of the way.\u201d <\/p>\n In particular, she spotlighted Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian woman who has been detained since March. Sakeik said they became close friends after her transfer to Prairieland last month. <\/p>\n Related:Palestinian woman\u2019s attorney argues for her release from North Texas immigration detention<\/p>\n Kordia\u2019s attorneys have been fighting for her release in federal court, saying she is being targeted for her participation in a pro-Palestinian protest near Columbia University. She was detained days after the high-profile arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia student who helped lead pro-Palestinian protests on the campus. The federal government has said the case is based on her overstaying a student visa.<\/p>\n On June 27, a magistrate judge in Dallas recommended the request for Kordia\u2019s release be granted, according to court records. The final decision from a district judge has yet to be issued. <\/p>\n \u201cLeqaa, if you\u2019re watching this,\u201d Sakeik said, \u201cI love you and I will continue to fight for you.\u201d <\/p>\n and integrate them seamlessly into the new content without adding new ‘ A North Texas newlywed who spent more than 140 days in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody said Thursday in her first public comments since her release that she does not blame the country that has been her home for more than a decade. But now, she feels a need to fight for those who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":8835,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8834","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/UG7LHNM4YNDDNMKNRH5SYYTWG4.jpg?auth=dac91288be0016c091b67c5afc0317f4cbffc4e9b26347358d40abe4ee7ea7ed&height=630&width=1200&focal=2210,660&quality=80","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8834"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8834"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8836,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8834\/revisions\/8836"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Ward](\"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/XK7EL5T7S5HJFGZL6KBB6KNBLI.JPG?auth=fe526918e94c8471f7aa1a47a2047a423a2f5b209ca7b47db98e514d1d1201f9&width=830&quality=80\")
Ward Sakeik (right) shows off an art project that she and other detained women created during their time in ICE custody after a news conference, Thursday, July 3, 2025, in Irving. The flags represent the women\u2019s home countries alongside drawings representing their native lands.(El\u00edas Valverde II \/ Staff Photographer)<\/span><\/p>\n tags from <\/p>\n
![\"Ward](\"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/ADO6YQX37BEPRGVFP6PXIJOI2M.jpg?auth=3219a9e86f48bf70508193cffac4dbbef25e3168c0fdcb1742fe24fb86fd3051&width=830&quality=80\")
Ward Sakeik speaks alongside her husband Taahir Shaikh about her time in ICE custody during a news conference following her release, Thursday, July 3, 2025, in Irving. Sakeik was released from the Prairieland Detention Center on Tuesday night after more than 140 days in ICE custody.(El\u00edas Valverde II \/ Staff Photographer)<\/span><\/p>\nWard Sakeik (right) shows off an art project that she and other detained women created during their time in ICE custody after a news conference, Thursday, July 3, 2025, in Irving. The flags represent the women\u2019s home countries alongside drawings representing their native lands.(El\u00edas Valverde II \/ Staff Photographer)<\/span><\/p>\n tags. Include conclusion section and FAQs section with questions and answers at the end. do not include the title. it must return only article i dont want any extra information or introductory text with article e.g: ” Here is rewritten article:” or “Here is the rewritten content:”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"