A rideshare driver was detained while dropping a passenger off at Camp Pendleton, according to his family, who said they’re confused as to why, when he has no criminal history and work authorization as he awaits an outcome in his pending immigration case.

“He wanted to come here. He loved coming here. It was his dream,” Arwa Alkhawaja said of her brother Assim Alkhawaja. She’s a U.S. citizen, and their family is originally from the Middle East, but NBC 7 is not specifying from exactly where, for their safety.

Arwa Alkhawaja said her brother studied human rights and always loved the U.S. for its freedom, so he came to the U.S. for his master’s degree, then again to get a doctorate from the University of San Francisco.

About two years ago, he landed in Oceanside, she said, selling his businesses back in the Middle East to fulfill his dream of opening a coffee shop, called Sands Coffee Roasters – now a coffee trailer, with one inspection left before he can open his storefront.

“He’s like, ‘This is a good life. You come here, you start your own business. It’s a dignified life. You get a lot of opportunities,’” Arwa Alkhawaja said. “To him, it’s a beautiful life, and he wanted to come here and live this life, but not to end up like that.”

Arwa Alkhawaja said to help pay for his expenses in launching the coffee shop, Assim Alkhawaja picked up rideshare driving on the side. Last Monday, he was taking a passenger to Camp Pendleton when he was stopped at the gate, she said, and detained.

“When they asked for his driver’s license, he showed it to them. And then they told him, ‘Do you have another I.D.?’ And then he showed them his work permit, and then they told him, ‘Oh no, just like, pull over, you’re going to the side,’” Arwa Alkhawaja said her brother relayed. She said he then called and left her a message to tell her “ICE got me.”

“It was scary,” Arwa Alkhawaja said. “I was confused. It was like, what in the world? Why? What happened? Why would they get him?”

Arwa Alkhawaja said she rushed to the base, arriving in time to see only his feet as he was led into a vehicle. He was then taken to the Otay Mesa Detention Center.

“I just wanted to hug him, let him know, ‘You’re okay. We’re here for you. Things will be okay,” Arwa Alkhawaja said, growing emotional as she asked, “Why would someone do this to someone else? That was in my mind when I looked at the officers like, why? Why are you taking him? What did he do?”

“He was not speeding up. He did not break a rule. He was just giving a ride to a client. And then there he is, in this detention center,” she continued.

ICE did not answer questions about Assim Alkhawaja’s case. His sister said he has no criminal history and a search of San Diego County Court records showed no criminal cases against him.

“We’re not used to this,” Arwa Alkhawaja said of her family. “We never broke laws. We never broke rules. And wherever we go, just like, we’re trying to live as good citizens. So this was – it came out of nowhere.”

At a bond hearing Monday, Assim Alkhawaja sat quietly in his detainee jumpsuit as the immigration judge asked him a few questions, many pertaining to his employment. He told the judge he’s had the coffee business for about a year and has filed his taxes.

The judge ultimately ruled that he posed no danger to the community, nor was he a flight risk, and allowed his release on $10,000 bond.

Arwa Alkhawaja and her husband attempted to pay the bond immediately but said they were told they had to wait for the appropriate paperwork to be filed, hoping to return to do so in the next few days.

She said their family in the Middle East has wanted him to return home after this, but he told her he still wants to stay.

“He’s like, ‘No, no, I have started this business,’” she said. “And it’s coming this close. And he was telling me, ‘You know what, let’s be hopeful, Arwa. That dream is going to come true.”