The US government has tried for the second time to deport a stateless Palestinian woman, according to court documents – despite a judge’s order barring her removal.

Ward Sakeik. Photograph: Change.org

US tries to deport stateless Palestinian woman again despite judge’s order

The US government has tried for the second time to deport a stateless Palestinian woman, according to court documents – despite a judge’s order barring her removal.

Ward Sakeik, a 22-year-old newlywed, was detained in February on her way home from her honeymoon in the US Virgin Islands. Last month, the government attempted to deport her without informing her where she was being sent, according to her husband, Taahir Shaikh. An officer eventually told her that she would be sent to the Israel border – just hours before Israel launched airstrikes on Iran.

After her lawyers filed suit on behalf, US district judge Ed Kinkeade issued an order on 22 June barring the government from deporting Sakeik or removing her from the Texas district where she is being detained while her case is decided.

But on Monday, the government tried once again to deport her. Officers at the detention facility woke her up early in the morning on Monday, and told her she “had to leave”. When she tried to tell the officer there was a court order blocking her removal, the officer responded: “It’s not up to me.”

“Sakeik informed me that when she arrived at intake, her belongings had been placed outside the door,” her lawyer testified in court documents.

Sakeik’s family is from Gaza, but she was born in Saudi Arabia, which does not grant birthright citizenship to the children of foreigners.... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/02/stateless-palestinian-woman-deportation-ward-sakeik

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