Kashmiri filmmaker Arfat Sheikh was detained by US ICE agents.
He was detained despite having valid US work authorization papers.
The incident sparked outrage amid growing controversies surrounding ICE tactics.
Award-winning Kashmiri filmmaker Arfat Sheikh has been detained by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at Washington Dulles International Airport in the United States.
According to the press release by the Free Arfat Sheikh Campaign, he has been detained by ICE since September 24 at the Caroline Detention Facility. The Independent reported that he was “en route to an Art as Resistance panel, which was scheduled to take place at Busboys and Poets in Washington, DC,” quoting friends of Arfat.
He is due to appear before an immigration judge on Tuesday for a procedural hearing and then a bond hearing. They claimed that he had just stepped off his flight when ICE agents surrounded him and detained him without a warrant.
His friends further claimed that he was detained even after he produced his immigration papers, according to Independent.
Sheikh is currently 42 years old. He grew up in Kashmir during the 1990s and has lived in the US since 2019. Based in Alexandria, Virginia, he has a pending immigration application and is authorised to live and work in the US.
He is the director of "Saffron Kingdom", an award-winning film that aims to present Kashmir in human terms and take back its story after years of misrepresentation by Bollywood.
Controversies Around ICE
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been facing intense controversy over its aggressive enforcement tactics, fatal shootings, civil liberties violations, and a lack of accountability during ramping operations under the second Donald Trump administration.
In a shooting by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, a U.S. citizen named Renee Good was killed during Operation Metro Surge. This led to major federal civil lawsuits against the government alleging excessive force and wrongful death.
Protests against Donald Trump’s mass deportation push broke out after his second presidential term began on January 20, 2025. The demonstrations followed his inauguration and spread across several states.
Large-scale protests were reported from Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Minnesota. Activists have even called for the abolition of ICE, citing lethal incidents, racial profiling, and heavy-handed enforcement tactics.
