TACOMA — Before he went into his naturalization meeting Thursday, Muhammad Zahid Chaudhry told his wife, Melissa, he’d be back in 10 minutes as an American citizen. The next time she saw her husband was in a visiting area within the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma.

Chaudhry, 52, a U.S. Army veteran, activist and community leader, was taken into custody after arriving for his citizenship interview in Tukwila. Melissa Chaudhry, who ran for Congress in 2024 in Washington’s 9th Congressional District, said she has not been told why her husband has been detained.

Dozens of protesters gathered outside Tacoma’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center over the weekend to call for his release and to condemn the tactics of the Trump administration’s nationwide immigrati

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