Son of Arlington man detained by ICE dies from rare disease
The son of an Arlington who was arrested by immigration authorities in October has died from a rare disease, and his family is begging for ICE to release his father so he can attend his son’s funeral.
Wael Tarabishi, the son of Maher Tarabishi, died at around 2 p.m. Friday in the intensive care unit at Methodist Mansfield Medical Center, according to a press release. He had Pompe disease.
Maher was arrested on Oct. 28 by immigration agents. Before his arrest, Mahel was the primary caretaker for Wael, who had a rare disease that left him unable to move or breathe on his own. Wael was hospitalized on Dec. 24 for a stomach infection, according to his family.
Wael’s family signed a “do not reuscitate” order on Friday, begging ICE to release Maher so he could be with his son in his final hours.
According to the family, Maher’s attorney has filed to reopen his client’s asylum case because his previous lawyer was practicing law without a license.
Hours before Wael’s death, the family said, the attorney met with an ICE official to ask for Maher’s release, but that request was denied.
Maher ‘s family has previously told the Star-Telegram that Maher, a Jordanian national, came to the U.S. in 1994 on a tourist visa that has since expired. Maher has been applying for asylum since then, and he was arrested during a routine check-in at the Dallas immigration field office — a trend that advocates say has increased since President Donald Trump took office last January.
“We call on every congressional representative that represents Texas to take action to the fullest extent of their capacity to ensure that Maher gets the opportunity to properly mourn his son and grieve with his family, as is his human right to do,” a representative for the Tarabishi family said in a statement.
