The family of a Jordanian national in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody is pleading for his release as his son’s health declines.
Maher Tarabishi was detained after his annual check-in at the Dallas ICE Field office on Oct 28. He has been in the U.S. since 1994.
“It’s been a nightmare," said Tarbishi’s daughter-in-law, Shahd Arnaout. "I don’t wish on anyone what is happening right now with us."
Arnaout said her father-in-law has had permission for decades to live in the U.S. to care for his 30-year-old son, Wael Tarabishi. Wael is an American citizen and suffers from Pompe disease, a condition that causes muscle deterioration and has left him bedridden.
"I know how my father-in-law works so hard to make sure that his son is breathing," Arnaout said.
She and her family are able to talk to Maher Tarabishi frequently, and she said things have gone from bad to worse.
“Every time on the phone call, he’s crying, crying, crying, all he thinks about is his son,” she said. “The first question is, ‘How's Wael? Did you give him that medication?’”
In a statement posted on Instagram, Wael, who has undergone 36 surgeries, called his father “my hero, my hope, my miracle, my motivation, my safe place.”
“Not a single person knows more about my condition than him,” the statement reads. “Even when we go to the hospital, the nurses and medical teams tell him, ‘Please show us and take the lead.’”
Arnaout said Tarabishi had been keeping up with his check-ins with immigration officials for years without any problems. It was hours before his family was informed that he was detained.
“Thank God they let him to make that five-minute call, not even five minutes,” she said. “At this point we thought he's dead or something bad happened to him.”
She said although he went to his check-in with his paperwork, he was detained immediately.
Tarabishi stayed in the Dallas ICE Facility for four days with 30 other people and with access to only one bathroom, Arnaout said. He was then transferred to the Bluebonnet Detention Facility, located in Anson, 200 miles west of Dallas. She called the conditions there “inhumane.”
KERA reached out to ICE for details about Tarabishi’s arrest but has not received a response. In a statement shared with NBC last month, the agency alleged Tarabishi was a “self-admitted member of the Palestine Liberation Organization,” the internationally recognized representative of Palestinians.
Arnaout said the statement “did not make any sense.” She said Tarabishi has never received so much as a speeding ticket.
“He’s been following the rules,” she said.
More than 50 days after his father was detained, Wael Tarabishi's health has continued to worsen.
He was hospitalized last month to be treated for blood sepsis and pneumonia. He has since been released, but Arnaut fears Wael might return to the hospital.
“I feel like this is all on ICE, because if my father-in-law was next to him right now, none of that would happen.”
Priscilla Rice is KERA’s communities reporter. Got a tip? Email her at price@kera.org.
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