“Handcuffed For 16 Hours”: Newlywed Woman, Held For 4 Months, Recounts US Detention Horror

Ward Sakeik, a 22-year-old Palestinian woman who was detained in February on her way home from her honeymoon, was released on Thursday, July 3, 2025, from immigration detention after spending over four months in confinement.

Just 10 days after her wedding, Sakeik was arrested as she was returning from the US Virgin Islands. Prior to her arrest, she had been fulfilling the demands of rules to check in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

After her release, she said, “I was overfilled with joy and a little shock. I mean, it was my first time seeing a tree in five months,” as The Guardian reported.

During a press conference at a hotel in Irving, Texas, she recalled the harsh treatment she faced while in custody, saying, “I was handcuffed for 16 hours without any water or food on the bus.”

Sakeik said she did not eat because she was fasting for Ramadan. Eventually, she said, “I broke my fast next to a toilet in the intake room.”

“The restrooms are also very, very, very unhygienic. The beds have rust everywhere. They’re not properly maintained. And cockroaches, grasshoppers, spiders, you name it, are all over the facility. Girls would get bit.”

Why Was Ward Sakeik Arrested?

The US Department of Homeland Security said the Guardian, “She chose to fly over international waters and outside the US customs zone and was then flagged by CBP trying to re-enter the continental US.” 

After she was detained, the US government tried to deport her. She was told she was being taken to the Israel border, just as Israel launched airstrikes on Iran.

Throughout, Sakeik worried that she would be deported to Israel without documents proving her nationality, and she would be arrested.

Who is Ward Sakeik?

Ward Sakeik was born in Saudi Arabia, but her family is from Gaza. Saudi Arabia does not grant birthright citizenship to the children of foreigners.

As per reports, she and her family came to the US on a tourist visa and applied for asylum, but were denied. Although the family was allowed to remain in Texas. She graduated from high school and college at the University of Texas and started a wedding photography business. 

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