Kashmiri Filmmaker Detained by ICE at Dulles

Kashmiri filmmaker Arfat Sheikh, director of “Saffron Kingdom,” was detained by U.S. immigration authorities at Dulles International Airport on Sept. 24, according to friends and supporters. They say he had arrived from California and was traveling to Washington for an “Art as Resistance” panel when ICE agents took him into custody, despite his presenting immigration documents; those accounts have not been confirmed by federal authorities. Sheikh is being held at the Caroline Detention Facility in Virginia, and a federal court docket shows he filed a habeas corpus petition the day he was detained. Supporters say he entered the country on a student visa, has a pending immigration application and is authorized to live and work in the United States, but those details also remain unconfirmed by immigration officials. He was expected to appear before an immigration judge for a procedural hearing and bond assessment.