Filmmaker and Georgia State University graduate Arfat Sheikh was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers while getting off a plane on Sept. 26.
According to a GoFundMe started to raise funds for Sheikh’s legal defense, the Kashmiri-born filmmaker was taken by ICE agents when he was getting off a plane at Dulles International Airport in Washington D.C. According to a press release, Sheikh was on the way to an Art as Resistance panel that was scheduled to take place at a restaurant called Busboys and Poets and was taken without a warrant even though he presented his immigration paperwork.
Sheikh is best known for directing the film “Saffron Kingdom,” which was filmed in Georgia and tells the story of a Kashmiri family navigating decades of trauma, displacement, and resilience.
“Arfat Sheikh entered the United States legally on a student visa to pursue graduate studies in film at Georgia State University,” reads the GoFundMe page. “Sheikh has a pending immigration application and is authorized to live and work in the United States. He currently lives in Alexandria, Virginia.”
A representative for the Free Arfat Sheikh Campaign shared a witness statement from Tara Dorabji, an author and filmmaker who was travelling with Sheikh and shot the video of the arrest. Dorabji said the men who arrested Sheikh were in plain clothes and were not wearing uniforms that indicated that they were federal agents.
“Arfat dedicated his life to speaking truth and defending human rights. He is one of the kindest and most courageous people I know. He came to the United States legally as a film student to share about the human rights atrocities in Kashmir,” Dorabji said in the statement. “Arfat created Saffron Kingdom as a form of collective memory and truth-telling to tell the story of his people. It is devastating that someone who spent years bringing stories of human rights violations in war-torn regions to international audiences is in ICE detention, facing the conditions Arfat has dedicated his life to end.”
According to the press release, Sheikh was scheduled for a procedural hearing on Oct. 6 at 8:30 a.m. immediately followed by a bond hearing. He is being held at the Caroline Detention Facility in Virginia.
A representative for the Free Arfat Sheikh Campaign said they were unable to share updates about the hearing when Rough Draft contacted them on Oct. 6. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not respond to requests for comment.
This is an ongoing story and will be updated as new information comes in.
