Hanecdote 🍉

Son of caregiver held in ICE detention over unfounded PLO allegations dies; father barred from funeral —— Wael Tarabishi, a 30 year old US citizen with severe Pompe disease, died on 23 January in a Texas intensive care unit after his father and full time caregiver, Maher Tarabishi, was detained by US immigration authorities. Maher, a Jordanian national, was arrested on 28 October 2025 during a routine check in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Dallas and held more than 200 miles away. Relatives said Wael, who had undergone 36 surgeries and was confined to bed, suffered a rapid health decline without his father’s daily care. He was hospitalized with sepsis and pneumonia and spent days in intensive care calling for his father, including during a month long ICU stay, before his death. Family members said officers ignored Maher’s long standing legal permission to remain in the US as his son’s caregiver and detained him despite explanations at the scene. ICE later alleged that Maher was a criminal and a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which has not been designated a terrorist group since 1987, a claim relatives described as unfounded. ICE did not allow him to attend his son's funeral.