Disabled man dies in hospital while father remains in ICE custody

DALLAS – The disabled son of a Jordan national who’s been in ICE custody for months has died in a North Texas hospital. 

The man’s father and primary caretaker, Maher Tarabishi, says he came here legally in the 90s and has been making annual immigration check-ins up until his arrest in October. 

Wael Tarabishi dies

The latest:

Maher’s adult son, Wael, suffered from a rare progressive muscle disorder called Pompe disease. He had been hospitalized twice since his father’s arrest, most recently on Christmas Eve for a problem with his intragastric tube. 

According to information from Storyful, Wael, 30, remained at the hospital in Mansfield because of that problem with his only method of food consumption up until his death on Jan. 23. In a video posted to social media prior to his death, Wael said he was doing poorly without Maher. 

What they’re saying:

“Mentally, I have never been worse,” Wael said in the video. “My father was always my hero, my safe place. He did everything for me, 24 hours a day, and ICE took him for no reason.”

Wael was pronounced dead at the hospital, having never been reunited with Maher.  

“Up until Wael’s last conscious moment, he continued thinking and talking about his father,” the Tarabishi family said in a press release.

Funeral for Wael Tarabishi

What’s next:

Wael’s funeral is set for today, Thursday, Jan. 29. The Tarabishi family requested that ICE allow Maher to attend the funeral. 

ICE denied the request on Tuesday. 

Maher Tarabishi in ICE custody

The backstory:

Maher, 62, first came to the United States in 1994. He says he got here legally on a tourist visa, and has been checking in with the ICE field office in Dallas every year to retain his legal status. 

On Oct. 28, 2025, while making his check-in for the year, Maher was detained by ICE. The Jordan national has now been in custody for three months, with the Department of Homeland Security claiming he’s a “criminal alien” and a member of a terrorist organization who should have been deported years ago. 

The Tarabishi family has denied these claims, Storyful said, saying Maher has been mischaracterized as being associated with the Palestine Liberation Organization. 

Maher had an asylum request denied years ago, but his family says he’s been allowed to stay in the country on a supervision order since the Obama administration, as he was staying to take care of Wael. 

The DHS says Maher was ordered to be removed from the country before the case was dismissed by the Obama administration. The department refers to him as an “admitted member of a foreign terrorist organization.”

Maher’s family maintains that he is not a criminal, nor is he dangerous — just “a father who has spent his whole life caring for his disabled son.”