Did ice detain a disabled persons caretaker?

1. The arrest: a primary caretaker taken into custody

Local reporting identifies Maher Tarabishi as both the father and the full-time, primary caretaker of his adult son Wael, who lived with Pompe disease, and states Maher was arrested by immigration officers in October and is being detained at the Bluebonnet Detention Center in Anson, Texas ^{[1] [2]}; earlier coverage from fall 2025 likewise described Wael as having been left without his primary caretaker after Maher’s detention ^[4].

2. The human cost reported by family and local media

Family statements and press releases cited by WFAA and other local outlets say Wael died on Jan. 23 and that he passed “without his beloved father, primary caretaker and constant life companion, Maher, by his side,” and the family has publicly blamed the stress and consequences of Maher’s detention for Wael’s decline ^{[2] [3]}; the family also sought humanitarian release for Maher to attend the funeral, a request that reporting says ICE denied ^[3].

3. Official detention context and ICE policy that bears on caretakers

ICE’s own detention-management materials describe a multilevel oversight and compliance program and outline standards facilities must meet, and the agency says it detains people to secure attendance for immigration proceedings or removal and for cases of mandatory detention or perceived public-safety or flight risk ^[5]; separately, DHS has issued guidance intended to let detained parents identify caretakers for their children, illustrating that administrative directives consider caregiver arrangements in some family contexts ^[6].

4. Broader patterns and corroborating national reporting

National reporting shows a rise in detention numbers and deaths in custody in recent months — Reuters noted multiple deaths in early January and that ICE was detaining tens of thousands of people under an expanded enforcement posture — which provides broader context for critiques that detention can have severe health consequences for vulnerable people ^[7]. Advocacy groups and investigations previously documented cases where people with disabilities or mental-health needs fared poorly in immigration detention, including instances of inadequate accommodation and catastrophic outcomes after release or ejection from facilities ^[8].

5. Competing facts, gaps in public record, and implicit agendas

Some local reports reference allegations against Maher — for example, prior reporting noted the family disputed claims tying him to a terrorist group — but public accounts in the provided sources emphasize the caretaker role and the family’s contention that detention harmed Wael; the available material does not include a contemporaneous ICE statement explaining the arrest, the specific legal basis for continued detention in January 2026, or ICE’s public justification for denying humanitarian release, so the reporting cannot adjudicate those legal or security claims ^{[4] [3]}. Advocacy outlets and legal observers argue that ICE’s expanding detention and chronic problems around medical care create systemic incentives that deprioritize accommodations for people with disabilities ^{[8] [7]}, an implicit agenda visible in policy critiques.

6. Bottom line — did ICE detain a disabled person’s caretaker?

Yes: multiple news outlets and the family’s attorney identify Maher Tarabishi as the detained father and primary caretaker of Wael, and they report he was arrested in October and remains at Bluebonnet Detention Center in Anson ^{[1] [2] [3]}. The reporting documents the family’s claim that the detention deprived a disabled man of his caregiver and that ICE denied Maher’s request to attend his son’s funeral, while the public record provided here does not include ICE’s detailed public rationale for Maher’s detention or for the denial of humanitarian release ^{[3] [5]}.