Dr. Ann Lawani, a Nigerian-born nurse and University of San Francisco professor, has spent nearly two months in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention, prompting a California congressman to demand her release.
Dr. Lawani was arrested at her California home in September and transferred to an immigration detention center in Louisiana. Rep. Josh Harder (D-Calif.) is demanding her release, questioning why she remains in custody despite having no criminal history.
In a Tuesday (November 10) statement, Harder said there was "no apparent public safety justification" for keeping Lawani in custody thousands of miles from home. He also demanded her immediate return to California.
ICE arrested Lawani on September 16 and initially held her in Stockton before transferring her to El Paso, Texas, and later to the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center, where she remains detained, according to NBC Bay Area.
Lawani, 39, has lived in Lodi, California, for 13 years and cares for her 83-year-old father, according to Harder. She directs USF's master's nursing program, overseeing more than 200 students, and also practices as a nurse at John Muir Health.
Harder first raised concerns about her detention in an October 20 letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. He requested Lawani's release under an order of supervision, documentation identifying any proposed third country for her removal and an explanation for her continued detention.
KQED reported that Harder also raised concerns that her whereabouts were missing from ICE's online detainee locator.
Lawani's asylum application was denied in 2013, but an immigration judge granted her withholding of removal, protecting her from deportation to Nigeria because of the risk of persecution.
According to The San Francisco Standard, the Department of Homeland Security maintains she overstayed her temporary visa and has a final removal order. DHS said she would remain detained pending removal.
Lawani's brother, Samuel, also called for her return in a statement shared by Harder's office. "My family and I want to see my sister returned home safely and as soon as possible," he said.
USF nursing dean Eileen Fry-Bowers said Lawani's absence causes "real and mounting harm" to students and faculty, according to KQED.
SFist reported that a federal judge barred the government from deporting Lawani while her habeas case remains pending.
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