A delighted newlywed arrived in the US Virgin Islands for a honeymoon with her handsome husband, only to be abruptly detained by ICE and taken into custody when they found she was stateless.
Ward Sakeik, from Arlington, Texas, remains in ICE detention after she was arrested in February when she and her new husband Taahir Shaikh were stopped by authorities on St Thomas
Her bereft husband said the couple had just arrived to start their honeymoon when his photographer wife was detained, despite having proof of a unique circumstance documents and a pending green card application.
‘The past 12 months of my life has just been the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows,’ Sakeik told NBC5.
‘You go from buying your first home, planning your dream wedding, attending that wedding, going on your honeymoon, to being separated for over 120 days.’
Sakeik was born in Saudi Arabia as a Palestinian refugee. She has been considered stateless her whole life because Saudi officials did not recognize her as a national.
She was eight when her family came to the US to apply for asylum, but when the asylum request was denied, the US couldn’t deport them because they had no citizenship.
Instead, Sakeik’s family were given an order of supervision and were required to check in with immigration officials annually, leaving her in a legal limbo that was only discovered when she went on her honeymoon.
Newlyweds Ward Sakeik (left) and her husband Taahir Shaikh were stunned when they went on their honeymoon in February to the US Virgin Islands and she was detained by ICE
Sakeik was born in Saudi Arabia as a Palestinian refugee, and has been stateless her whole life after US officials rejected her family’s asylum application when she was eight but allowed them to stay in the country
The good-looking young couple arrived in St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands, pictured, to begin their honeymoon but found themselves embroiled in an immigration nightmare
Living her whole life as a stateless person living in the US, Shaikh said his wife has always complied with the annual immigration check-ups and never expected to be detained.
Shaikh said they believed the US Virgin Islands was a safe location for them to travel to celebrate their nuptials.
‘We felt we did our due diligence, and we were very intentional. There’s a reason we chose the U.S. Virgin Islands,’ he said.
Sakeik, a graduate of UT Arlington and a wedding photographer, was taken to Texas after she was detained in the Caribbean.
She spent several months in the McAllen Detention Center in Texas, and is now in Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas.
As newlyweds, the couple said their first months as a married couple have been far from what they expected when they tied the knot at the start of the year.
Shaikh said they can only communicate through video calls and weekly visitations.
‘She constantly says, ‘When I get through this phase of my life, what am I not able to endure after this?” he said.
Sakeik, a graduate of UT Arlington and a wedding photographer, was taken to Texas after she was detained in the Caribbean, and has remained there for over 120 days
Shaikh said the ‘past 12 months of my life has just been the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows… You go from buying your first home, planning your dream wedding, attending that wedding, going on your honeymoon, to being separated’
Shaikh said his wife has been telling him from the ICE detention center: ‘When I get through this phase of my life, what am I not able to endure after this?’
According to the Center for Migration Studies, when a stateless person is detained they can be released from custody after 90 days.
But Sakeik has been held for over 120 days, and her new husband says he has received no communication from ICE officials.
Her green card application will also remain on hold while she is detained, and the couple say they are hiring immigration lawyers in hopes that she can be freed.
‘I need people to realize that this is someone who has complied every year for 14 years and has always sought to be able to build lawful permanent residence,’ Shaikh said.
‘But when you’re stateless, you don’t have that luxury. Now that you’re finally at the finish line, why would you take it away.’