ICE detained Kashmiri filmmaker Arfat Sheikh at Washington Dulles airport on Sept. 24 as he got off a flight from California, his family and friends told Reuters. His 2024 debut feature, "Saffron Kingdom," follows a family from Srinagar in India-administered Kashmir in the 1990s to Atlanta. It won best feature at four festivals. Sheikh made the film fearing repercussions from Indian authorities, who have barred critics from returning home over work they deem anti-India, according to Atlanta public radio station WABE. Sheikh came to the US on a student visa in 2019 and applied for asylum in 2020. His supporters say his application is pending and he was authorized to live and work in the US. DHS confirmed the arrest Wednesday, but said Sheikh "illegally overstayed" and that a pending application "does not confer legal status."