Friends and colleagues of Kashmir-born filmmaker Arfat Sheikh are campaigning for his release after US immigration officers reportedly detained him at Washington Dulles International Airport on September 24.
Fellow filmmaker Tara Dorabji said she was travelling with Sheikh from San Francisco when officers stopped him after their flight landed. They were heading to Washington for an event examining art and resistance.
According to his supporters, Sheikh entered the United States as a student in 2019, applied for asylum in 2020 and had authorization to work while his immigration application remained pending. Reports placed him at the Caroline Detention Facility in Virginia.
The authorities’ legal grounds for detention were not publicly explained in the reports reviewed. Claims that the detention was unlawful are allegations made by his supporters and have not been established by a court.
