A Nigerian-born nurse and university lecturer in California has spent nearly two months in US immigration detention, and her case is drawing growing attention from lawmakers, colleagues and Nigerians in the diaspora. Dr Ann Lawani, 39, who directs the master’s nursing programme at the University of San Francisco (USF), was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers at her home in Lodi, California, on September 16 and is now being held in Louisiana, according to NBC Bay Area and KQED.
Her family, university colleagues and her local congressman, Democrat Josh Harder, are calling for her immediate release and return to California. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), however, says she was given due process and is subject to a final order of removal issued more than a decade ago.
Who is Dr Ann Lawani?
Lawani is a Nigerian national who, according to NBC Bay Area, has lived and worked in the United States for about 21 years and holds a valid work permit. She has lived in Lodi, in San Joaquin County, for more than a decade.
At USF she oversees a master’s nursing programme with more than 200 students, while also working weekend shifts in the cardiovascular and stroke unit at John Muir Health, a Bay Area hospital network. Colleagues describe her as a highly regarded clinician and teacher.
Eileen Fry-Bowers, dean of USF’s School of Nursing and Health Professions, has said Lawani’s absence is disrupting student mentoring, curriculum work needed for accreditation and community health partnerships. Speaking alongside other supporters, she described Lawani as one of the finest nurses she knows.
From California to Louisiana
After her arrest, Lawani was first held in Stockton, California, then moved to El Paso, Texas, and later to the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center, where she remains, NBC Bay Area reported. Her supporters say the transfers have made it harder for her family and lawyer to stay in contact with her.
Rep. Harder has also raised concerns that her name was missing from ICE’s public online detainee locator for a period, leaving relatives unsure where she was. The New York Times featured her case in a November 10 report examining how changes to deportation procedures can keep detainees off the locator and speed up removals.
In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin dated October 20, and in a further statement on November 10, Harder demanded her release under an order of supervision. He pointed to her lack of a criminal record, her compliance with immigration requirements and her strong community ties. He also alleged that ICE was pursuing her removal to an undisclosed third country without giving her or her lawyer the relevant documents, and asked DHS to name the proposed destination and explain why she remains detained.
“Withholding of removal” versus a 2013 order
At the centre of the dispute is Lawani’s legal status. According to Harder and her supporters, she was granted “withholding of removal”, a form of protection that bars the US government from deporting someone to a specific country where they are likely to face persecution, in this case Nigeria.
As TheGrio and others have noted, withholding of removal protects a person from being sent to one particular country but does not on its own give them permanent residence. That leaves open the possibility of removal to a different country, which is what Harder says ICE is now attempting.
DHS has given a different account. In a statement quoted by local media, the department said Lawani received due process and was issued a final order of removal on August 6, 2013, and that she will stay in ICE custody until she is removed from the United States.
Why the case matters to Nigerians abroad
Lawani’s detention comes amid a wider tightening of US immigration enforcement that has affected many Nigerians. In recent months US authorities have published lists of Nigerian nationals targeted for removal, and Nigeria’s emergency management agency has received several groups of deportees at Lagos airport.
Her case has struck a chord because she is a long-term resident with legal work authorisation and a professional record in a sector, nursing, that relies heavily on immigrant workers. Many Nigerian professionals in the US hold temporary or protection-based statuses that do not lead directly to a green card, and the outcome of cases like hers is being watched closely.
What happens next
Lawani remains in detention in Louisiana while her lawyers and supporters press for her release. Harder has asked DHS to return her to California while her case continues, and her colleagues at USF say they will keep campaigning publicly. There has been no public indication yet of which third country, if any, ICE intends to send her to, and DHS has not commented beyond its statement on the 2013 removal order.
Flashinfong will follow the case and report any response from the Nigerian government or the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM).
Sources: NBC Bay Area, KQED, TheGrio, The New York Times, Fox News.
