The family says Maher Tarabishi is the caregiver of his 30-year-old son, and is asking for Tarabishi to be released on humanitarian grounds.

ARLINGTON, Texas — The family of a Jordanian man arrested by ICE last October is demanding his release following two allegedly near-fatal health scares suffered by his son, for whom he serves as the primary caregiver.

Maher Tarabishi was arrested by ICE on Oct. 28 during a check-in at the Dallas ICE Field Office, his family said in a press release issued Monday afternoon. Since that time, the family reports that his son, Wael Tarabishi, has seen his health sharply decline — in large part, the family argues, due to his father’s absence.

Wael Tarabishi is a 30-year-old U.S. citizen living with Pompe disease, his family says. In the last month, his family said he has been rushed to the hospital twice. 

The first incident occurred on Nov. 30, when the family says Wael Tarabishi was diagnosed with sepsis and pneumonia during a five-day stay. Then, on Christmas Eve, the Tarabishi family said Wael was again transported to the hospital, this time due to the displacement of his intragastric tube, which is the only way he can consume food. 

“We are fighting for Wael’s life, and ICE is directly responsible for these emergency hospitalizations,” Maher Tarabishi’s daughter-in-law Shahd Arnaout said in a statement. “Maher is the only person who knows Wael’s complex medical needs. He knows every breath Wael takes, every medical alarm, every danger sign, and without him, Wael ahs not received the immediate, meticulous care he requires. ICE tore our family apart, and now we are terrified of the next health scare that could leave Wael fighting for his life without his father by his side.”

At a Tuesday morning press conference, family members and medical experts spoke extensively about Maher Tarabishi’s detention and his son’s medical condition, and asked for Maher Tarabishi’s release.

Maher Tarabishi’s daughter-in-law, Shahd Arnaout, said during the press conference that the family is angry and heartbroken at what has happened.

“Maher Tarabishi is not a criminal, he is not dangerous, he is a father who has spent his whole life caring for his disabled son,” Arnaout said. “Wael cannot move, he cannot care for himself. His father knows how to keep him breathing, how to keep him alive. ICE knew this, they were told this, and they took Maher away.”

Arnaout said her father-in-law has lived in the U.S. for decades and was someone who never broke any rules. 

“He built a life here,” she said. “No rule is more important than a human life. No detention center is more important than a father saving his son.”

In a statement issued to WFAA in November shortly after he was first detained, ICE called 62-year-old Maher Tarabishi a “criminal alien” and a “self-admitted member of the Palestine Liberation Organization.” The PLO has been designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. since 1987.

A statement from Wael Tarabishi was read aloud at the Tuesday press conference, in which he said that his father isn’t just his caregiver, but his hero and his best friend.

“He’s the one who keeps me alive when I’m at my weakest,” Wael Tarabishi wrote. “Without him, I am nothing. Without him, I cannot survive.”

When ICE took his father away, Wael Tarabish said they also took away his care, his strength, and his chance to live.

“This isn’t about politics or immigration; this is about life and death,” Wael Tarabishi wrote. “With my father, I have a chance.”

A statement from Dr. Nour Sharaf, an emergency medical physician in Dallas, was also read during the press conference. It said that Wael Tarabishi and his father had built a psychological bond that surpasses the typical father-son relationship.

“It is undoubtable that Maher’s illegal detainment has been detrimental to Wael’s health,” Sharaf said. “Maher holds all the key info needed to communicate to nurses and physicians caring for Wael. Without Maher’s care, Wael can continue to suffer unfathomable health consequences.”

Blake Vera, an organizer with the group ICE Out of Tarrant, said during the conference that Maher Tarabishi’s detention should never have happened.

“The bottom line is that this administration is trying to fill quotas,” Vera said. “Trying to fill beds in for-profit jails that are meant to house immigrants. The entity to blame for Wael’s suffering, for the suffering of the entire Tarabishi family, is ICE.”

Vera said that what is happening to the Tarabishi family is just one example of the ripple effect that ICE detention can have on an entire community.

The family says it is calling for the release of Maher Tarabishi on humanitarian grounds.

In its November statement to WFAA, ICE said that Maher Tarabishi had been allowed to remain in the U.S. illegally for almost two decades, despite an order for his removal.

“Even worse, the Obama administration went as far as to proactively file a joint motion to dismiss the immigration case against Tarabishi [on] Aug. 10, 2011, despite the fact that he had admitted to being a member of a foreign terrorist organization and was already ordered removed,” the ICE statement reads.

WFAA has reached out to ICE for further comment on the family’s request for Maher Tarabishi’s release, but has not heard back as of Tuesday evening.