Award-winning Kashmiri filmmaker is detained by U.S. immigration authorities

WASHINGTON — An award-winning filmmaker whose work has explored conflict in his native Kashmir has been detained by U.S. immigration officials after legally coming to the United States to study and later claiming asylum, his family and friends said Wednesday.

The Department of Homeland Security separately confirmed on Wednesday that Arfat Sheikh was arrested on Sept. 24. The department said that Sheikh “legally entered the U.S. on a temporary basis and illegally overstayed his lawful admittance.”

A pending application does not confer legal status in the U.S., DHS said, adding that he will receive due process.

U.S. citizen hurt after ICE allegedly targeted him

Sheikh was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, part of DHS, coming off a plane from California at Washington Dulles International Airport, according to a statement from relatives and friends campaigning for his release from detention.

Sheikh, who lived in Alexandria, Virginia, entered the U.S. in 2019 on a student visa to pursue graduate studies in film at Georgia State University and filed for asylum in 2020, according to the statement. It did not describe the grounds for his asylum claim. The statement said he had a pending immigration application and was authorized to work…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business