Queer Azerbaijani says husband remains in ICE detention although both have agreed to leave US
Samir Gadirov, an Azerbaijani national who has been a legal resident of the US since 2019, has said his husband Tural Atakishiyev, also from Azerbaijan, has been held in custody by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for more than a month even though both have agreed to leave the country for Azerbaijan. The story was reported by the queer-focused US media outlet Advocate on Wednesday.
ICE has embarked on an unprecedented crackdown on immigrants in the US since the beginning of US President Donald Trump’s second term. Many of those swept up in the process — such as Gadirov and Atakishiyev — have said they were following all the rules and attempting to obtain permanent legal status.
In an interview with Advocate, Gadirov said he had come to the US in 2019 after winning the green card lottery. He had then met Atakishiyev while on vacation in Azerbaijan in 2024, and that Atakishiyev had then come to the US with the proper paperwork and was granted asylum. The two were then legally married in the US, a move that both believed would provide a path towards residency.
However, Gadirov said Atakishiyev was arrested by ICE officers during what he thought was a routine check-in and transferred to a detention facility. They then realised they could take the case to court, but Atakishiyev would have to remain behind bars during the process, or they could agree to leave the country voluntarily and go back to Azerbaijan.
Although they agreed — despite their marriage not being recognised in Azerbaijan and knowing the risks that queer couples face there — Atakishiyev was not released and the two remain in limbo.
Gadirov told Advocate the two plan to resettle somewhere in the countryside in Azerbaijan once Atakishiyev gets out of the detention facility.
‘If we can be happy as a couple together in Azerbaijan, in the countryside, we are fine with that’.
Aytan Farhadova
