DHS Dismisses Palestinian Woman's Treatment In ICE Detention As 'Sob Story'
'The entire detention process was not great. I wouldn't wish this upon anybody. It was very hard, very traumatizing, and very, very difficult, is what I would say,' Ward Sakeik told CNN's Danny Freeman on Saturday morning.
Sakeik, 22, a stateless person whose family is from Gaza, was born in Saudi Arabia, a country that does not grant birthright citizenship to children of foreign-born parents, according to The Guardian. She entered the U.S. legally under a tourist visa when she was 8 and was allowed to remain, as long as she regularly checked in with ICE.
After getting married, she began the process of obtaining a green card, but was taken by ICE officials in February on her way back to Texas from her honeymoon in the Virgin Islands, a U.S. territory.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told CNN that Sakeik's arrest was not part of a targeted operation by ICE, but that she was flagged by Customs and Border Patrol trying to reenter the U.S. after flying over international waters.
In a statement shared with HuffPost, McLaughlin said Sakeik was not 'complying with immigration policies.'
'The facts are she is in our country illegally,' McLaughlin said. 'She overstayed her visa and has had a final order by an immigration judge for over a decade.'
Sakeik was released Tuesday and appeared at a press conference where she talked about her experience, saying she was handcuffed for 16 hours without any water or food on a bus.
'I was moved around like cattle, and the U.S. government attempted to dump me in a part of the world where I don't know where I'm going and what I'm doing or anything,' Sakeik said.
Sakeik went on to describe her conditions, which she said included unhygienic restrooms, rusted beds and insects that bit other detained migrants.
'I was criminalized for being stateless, something that I absolutely have no control over,' she said. 'I didn't choose to be stateless. I had no choice.'
She is now using her experience to advocate for others who are facing the same treatment, including women she met in detention.
'A lot of these women don't have the money for lawyers or media outreach. They come here to provide for their families and that's pretty much it,' Sakeik said. 'They're mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers. They're superheroes. They are humans and their lives hold values and I will continue to fight with them, for them, every single step of the way.'
In the statement shared with HuffPost, McLaughlin said 'any claim that there is a lack of food or subprime conditions at ICE detention centers are false,' and that those who are detained are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, and opportunities to talk with family members and lawyers.
'Ensuring the safety, security, and well-being of individuals in our custody is a top priority at ICE. Meals are certified by dieticians,' McLaughlin said. 'Why does the media continue to fall for the sob stories of illegal aliens in detention and villainize ICE law enforcement?'
DHS had given the same statement to Newsweek earlier this week. Sakeik's attorney, Eric Lee, responded to McLaughlin's comments Saturday morning on CNN.
'They called it a 'sob story,'' Lee said. 'I guess what we would ask the American people is, 'Who are they gonna believe, their lying eyes or the statements of the people who are responsible for carrying out what are really crimes against humanity here in the United States?''
Earlier this month, NPR published a report on inhumane conditions at ICE facilities, interviewing more than a dozen detainees, family members and lawyers who described issues like severe overcrowding and lack of food.
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