Disability, Detention, and a Preventable Death
Disability, Detention, and a Preventable Death
This week I’ve been thinking a lot about Wael Tarabishi. He was a member of our disabled community in Texas, and he passed away on January 23rd at the age of 30. His father, Maher, was his primary caretaker and had been for many years. In October, Maher was detained by ICE during a scheduled check-in.
After his father’s incarceration, Wael’s health began to decline. Without Maher’s expert attention, he developed several infections through the fall and winter. Wael is quoted as saying of his father, “He’s the one who keeps me alive when I’m at my weakest…Without him, I cannot survive.”
Throughout Wael’s illness, his family tried to keep in touch with Maher. He was not allowed to come to the hospital to see his son, and will not be allowed to attend his funeral. He was allowed only occasional phone calls from the ICE facility where he was kept.
For more information about Wael, and to see some sweet pictures of him with his father, check out the link below:
https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/29/us/maher-tarabishi-ice-detained-wael
We are approaching Disability Day of Mourning, which happens every year on March 1st. We remember the lives of our disabled friends that have been cut too short through violence or neglect. Wael was killed by a different kind of violence – the state violence that took away his caretaker. He won’t be the only one. Immigrants make up nearly a third of home care workers.
ICE detentions and deportations are stripping away the independence of people with disabilities by removing our experts – people who have cared for us lovingly and loyally for years. Home care workers are a critical piece of the independent living puzzle.
Haitian immigrants, who are set to lose Temporary Protective Status this week, make up a sizable chunk of health care workers. They work as PCAs in individual homes, and as assistants in rehab centers, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities.
With the loss of even more of our immigrant workforce, Wael’s story will become more common. People with disabilities will suffer and die without the attentive care of our PCAs and families. This makes ICE action a Disability Justice issue.
LUCE Immigrant Justice Network of Massachusetts keeps a hotline and a list of resources. To learn what your rights are and what you can do, see the link below:
--Rachel Cowen, Systems Change Advocate