SRINAGAR: Kashmiri filmmaker Arfat Sheikh has been released on bond from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention, but deportation proceedings against him are continuing, according to a campaign launched by his friends and relatives.
Reuters reported that Sheikh was released on Thursday after a bond was granted on Tuesday. He had been in detention since September 24.
According to the campaign, Sheikh, an award-winning filmmaker, was detained upon arrival at Washington Dulles International Airport after travelling from California.
Sheikh had been living in Alexandria, Virginia, after entering the United States in 2019 on a student visa to pursue graduate studies in film at Georgia State University. The campaign said he applied for asylum in 2020 and had a pending immigration application, along with authorisation to live and work in the country.
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Sheikh was arrested on September 24 after overstaying the authorised period of his temporary admission to the country, Reuters reported. The department stated that a pending application did not confer legal immigration status and said he would receive due process.
Sheikh’s detention comes amid the Trump administration’s wider immigration crackdown and efforts to increase deportations. In August, the administration said it was working to identify and revoke non-immigrant visas held by foreign nationals who entered the United States as short-term visitors before applying for asylum to remain in the country.
