Calls grow for release of beloved California nurse detained by ICE: ‘We want her home’
Summary
U.S. immigration agents arrested California nurse and University of San Francisco professor Ann Lawani in September and moved her among detention centers in California, Texas, and Louisiana. Her lawyer says an immigration judge granted her protection from removal to Nigeria in 2013, and a court petition challenging her detention is pending; university colleagues, students, and local lawmakers are calling for her release.Key Facts
- Ann Lawani, 39, came to the United States in 2007 and earned master’s and doctoral degrees in nursing.
- Lawani leads two nursing programs at the University of San Francisco and works with nearly 300 students.
- Immigration officials say Lawani overstayed a visitor visa and received a final removal order in August 2013.
- Lawani’s lawyer says she applied for asylum within a year of arriving and that an immigration judge granted withholding of removal to Nigeria in 2013.
- Withholding of removal bars deportation to a country where a person is likely to face persecution.
- Lawani’s lawyer filed a habeas petition challenging her detention; the case is pending in federal court in California.
- University colleagues, students, and local lawmakers have urged immigration authorities to release Lawani.
- Congressman Josh Harder raised concerns about the arrest notice and Lawani’s location with DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin in late October.
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