Ward Sakeik, a 22-year-old stateless Palestinian woman and newlywed from Texas, has come forward with a harrowing account of being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for 140 days following her return from her honeymoon. Despite having lived in the U.S. since age eight and being married to a U.S. citizen, she was taken into custody at Miami International Airport in February, still wearing her wedding ring and carrying documents related to her immigration status.
At a press conference in Dallas-Fort Worth, she said she was shackled and handcuffed for 16 hours without food or water and described being “moved around like cattle.” She and her husband had chosen the U.S. Virgin Islands for their honeymoon specifically to avoid international travel issues due to her pending green card application.
Sakeik, who runs a small wedding photography business in Texas, emphasized her efforts to follow every legal immigration process. She said ICE attempted to deport her twice in violation of federal court orders, including a disturbing attempt to fly her to “the border of Israel,” even though she is stateless and holds no citizenship. She was born in Saudi Arabia but has no legal nationality.
The Department of Homeland Security defended ICE’s actions, claiming detainees are given proper food, medical care, and communication access. Sakeik refuted this, saying she went 36 to 50 hours without access to a phone to call her lawyer or husband.
Government officials say she has been under a final removal order for over a decade, citing a visa overstay and a denied asylum claim from her childhood. But advocates and legal experts argue her detention highlights broader issues in U.S. immigration enforcement, especially under the Trump administration's stricter second-term policies. ICE deportations have surged in 2025, with over 100,000 people removed and 12 detainee deaths reported since October 2024.
Sakeik said she lost more than just time behind bars: “My humanity was stripped away.” Now free and reunited with her husband, she has vowed to advocate for other voiceless individuals trapped in the system, saying, “The America I believed in growing up isn’t the America I experienced in detention.”
