Disabled Son Dies After Caregiver Dad Detained by ICE
A Texas family says an immigration decision prevented a disabled man from spending his final days with his father and denied them a last goodbye.
According to ABC News, Maher Tarabishi, a 62-year-old Jordanian national, had been allowed to remain in the United States under supervision since 2008. He had overstayed a 1994 tourist visa and was later denied asylum, but immigration authorities permitted him to stay because he was the full-time caregiver for his son, Wael, a U.S. citizen living with Pompe disease, a severe degenerative muscle disorder, the Guardian reports.
That arrangement changed in late October, when Tarabishi — who has no criminal history — was detained following what had long been a routine check-in at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in Dallas.
With his father suddenly gone, 30-year-old Wael’s health declined sharply. Family members say he was hospitalized repeatedly and underwent multiple surgeries while they pleaded with ICE to release Maher or allow consistent contact between father and son. Their requests, the family and their attorney say, were not granted. Wael died in the hospital on Jan. 23.
After his son’s death, Tarabishi was not permitted to attend the funeral. Family attorney Ali Elhorr says text messages and voicemails show officials were discussing logistics, including possibly transferring Tarabishi to a closer detention center, before the plan was ultimately halted. Elhorr says the reversal came “from higher up.”
ICE told the Guardian that no formal request had been submitted and did not respond to follow-up questions about why Tarabishi was barred from attending the funeral.
ICE has alleged that Tarabishi has ties to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which was once designated a terrorist group by the United States. Elhorr disputes the claim, calling it unfounded and possibly connected to decades-old immigration paperwork prepared by someone later found to have been practicing law without a license.
NBC Dallas-Fort Worth described Tarabishi as a devoted father who provided meticulous care for his son for decades, even sleeping at the foot of his bed and noticing subtle changes in his breathing.
“ICE is responsible for the death of Wael Tarabishi,” said Maher’s daughter-in-law, Shahd Arnaout, who hopes the case brings attention to how immigration enforcement decisions affect families. “We have each other here,” she said of those gathered for the burial. “But he is alone there.”
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