‘No Food, Handcuffed, Treated Like Cattle’: Newlywed Bride Recounts US Detention Ordeal

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Last Updated:July 05, 2025, 17:28 IST

Ward Sakeik (22) was detained by ICE officials in February at the Miami International Airport after returning from her honeymoon in the US Virgin Islands with her husband.

In her first remarks since being released earlier this week from US immigration detention after spending over four months in custody, a 22-year-old Palestinian woman, who was married to a US citizen, said that she was denied basic rights and subjected to harsh treatment while in custody.

Ward Sakeik (22), was born in Saudi Arabia but doesn’t hold citizenship in any country. She has lived in the United States since the age of 8, but was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in February at the Miami International Airport after returning from her honeymoon in the US Virgin Islands with her husband, Taahir Shaikh, a US citizen.

After her release, she spoke about the harsh treatment she faced while in custody.

“I was just coming back from my honeymoon with my husband. Instead, I was shackled, handcuffed for 16 hours without food or water, and moved around like cattle," she said while addressing a press briefing after her release, The Guardian reported.

Sakeik said she and her husband had deliberately picked the US Virgin Islands for their honeymoon to avoid any complications and trouble with international travel since her green card application was pending.

Despite those precautions, she was detained upon her return.

She said that she lost five months of her life because of her statelessness.

“I did lose five months of my life because I was criminalized for being stateless, something that I absolutely have no control over. I didn’t choose to be stateless. I didn’t do a crime that made me stateless. I had no choice. I was just stateless," ABC News quoted Sakeik as saying.

According to Sakeik, she was transferred between at least four detention facilities during her 140-day stay and was often shackled and transported without food or water.

Sakeik described her detention, saying “humanity was stripped away from me."

“I was moved around like cattle and the U.S. government attempted to dump me in part of the world where I don’t know where I’m going and what I’m doing or anything," Sakeik said.

Soon after her release, she ran to her husband, saying, “I was like, oh my God, I can touch him without handcuffs and a glass. It was just freedom. I was overfilled with joy and a little shock. I mean, it was my first time seeing a tree in five months."

Meanwhile, ICE officials have defended her detention and rejected allegations of mistreatment.

Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, told India Today that all detainees are provided food, medical care, and access to legal counsel. “Any claim that there is a lack of food or substandard conditions at ICE detention centres is false," she said.

Shobhit Gupta

Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben...Read More

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Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)

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