US: Award-winning Kashmiri filmmaker detained
A filmmaker whose award-winning work has explored confrontation in his native Kashmir has been detained by United States immigration officers on suspicion of residing and dealing within the nation illegally.
Arfat Sheikh was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after disembarking a flight from California at Washington Dulles International Airport on September 24, in accordance with an announcement from mates and kinfolk who labeled his detention “illegal” and are calling for his launch.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, confirmed to the Reuters information company on Wednesday that Sheikh had “legally entered the US on a brief foundation and illegally overstayed his lawful admittance.”
Sheikh, 42, entered the US in 2019 on a pupil visa and enrolled on a graduate course in movie research at Georgia State University, in accordance with the assertion from family and friends.
Having utilized for asylum in 2020, the assertion stated he had a pending immigration software and was approved to work and stay within the US. It didn’t point out the bottom for asylum.
The DHS stated Sheikh would obtain due course of however {that a} pending software doesn’t confer authorized residency standing.
ICE arrests up amid Trump immigration crackdown
US President Donald Trump has been pursuing an immigration crackdown and deportation drive that he claims is geared toward enhancing home safety.
His administration stated in August it was to “determine and revoke the non-immigrant visas of foreigners who’ve come to the US claiming to be short-term guests, however then file for asylum to remain right here completely.”
The variety of ICE arrests hit report ranges this summer time, with about 51,000 recorded across August.
Critics say the crackdown has violated due course of and free speech rights and has created an unsafe environment, significantly for ethnic minorities, who’ve raised issues about racial profiling.
Sheikh, who hails from India-administered Kashmir, gained the Emerging Filmmaker Activist Award on the Teaneck International Film Festival in 2025.
His first function movie, 2024’s “Saffron Kingdom,” gained Best Feature Film on the Chicago Filmmakers Awards, the LA Film and Documentary Awards, the Melbourne Independent Film Festival and the Wake Forest Film Festival.
The movie explored conflict in Kashmir, a disputed Muslim-majority area claimed by each Hindu-majority India and Islamic Pakistan, which every management solely a part of it and have fought wars over it.
Edited by: Rana Taha
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