ICE Detains Disabled Veteran, Father of Two U.S. Citizens, Husband To Pro-Palestine Political Candidate, At Naturalization Interview

After a tumultuous 25 year immigration battle, ICE detained decorated, disabled veteran Zahid Chaudhry at his naturalization hearing Thursday morning, ripping him away from his two small children and his wife of 20 years. According to his family, Chaudhry is being held at the Northwest Detention Center for unknown reasons and unclear intentions. For now, his wife Melissa Chaudhry encourages community members to flood the Department of Homeland Security and the Northwest Detention Centers phone line and inboxes with the demand to free Chaudhry and naturalize him.

"He is eligible for citizenship by marriage and fatherhood, as well as long-term peaceful residence, but he claims his right by military service," a press statement reads. "He has already sworn an oath to protect and defend this country, and broken his body in service to that oath. Veterans are eligible for immediate, expedited naturalization, and Zahid deserves no less."

Melissa Chaudhry told The Burner that this is the “worst case scenario” for the meeting Thursday morning. Ahead of the meeting, Chaudhry sent out a message blast looking for support: “‘Will they naturalize him? Or will they abduct him. We don’t know. And we don’t trust them. Please, if you can, come show up in support.”

About two dozen people came with the Chaudhry’s for his 8am meeting. His bid for naturalization has garnered the support of about 100 people, according to the Keep Zahid Home website. Endorsers include family friends, fellow veterans, local elected officials, even Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell. 

It wasn’t until after 11am that ICE notified his wife that they had detained him. 

The first thing ICE said is that I should receive a call from him soon. And I said, ‘from where?’” Chaudhry recalled in a phone interview with The Burner. 

That’s when ICE told Chaudhry that they had taken her husband into custody. She asked why, but they refused, citing “privacy reasons.”

“I said, ‘the hell you're not able to discuss this with me and his wife. Tell me what happened, right now. Where's my husband and why did you take him?’” Chaudhry said. 

Again, ICE repeated the line about privacy to which Chaudhry replied, “How do you sleep at night?” They escorted her out of the building.

“They're stealing my beloved husband and the father of our two little children and shredding my life in little, tiny pieces,” Chaudhry said. “And they just think it's a kindness to inform me that this is what's happened.”

Chaudhry eventually got a call from her husband. He told her that ICE also would not tell him why they detained him. Chaudhry worries ICE will try to frame his detainment as in the interest of security. 

In a statement to the press, Chaudhry described a “well-documented” Homeland Security Department policy called “CARRP”, designed to cause indeterminate delays and pretextual denials to Muslim immigrants. The policy has “entrapped” more than 50,000 “hardworking, law-abiding people who did everything right,” the statement reads.  Chaudhry is one of these cases.

His wife accused ICE of creating “spurious grounds” to deport Chaudhry before, “creating smoke where there is no fire,” as she put it. 

“That’s what they do, they dredge up in the legal filings and blow a bunch of other things out of context to try to make it seem as though an immigrant is a threat,” Chaudhry said. “Zahid is the most peaceful, upstanding, law abiding, pillar of the community of American resident any of us could hope for.” 

His detainment raises suspicion of political motivation. His wife mounted a leftward challenge to warhawk Rep. Adam Smith in 2024 on a pro-Palestine platform. Chaudhry is a political activists in his own right. His wife said: “He makes waves, but he makes waves outside the establishment. The establishment doesn't like that, right?”