ICE detention of Nigerian nurse and professor sparks backlash over immigration enforcement

Dr. Ann Lawani’s supporters say she has legal protection against deportation to Nigeria, while federal officials cite a removal order issued in 2013.

A Nigerian born nursing professor whose work spans university education and patient care is at the center of a growing dispute over US immigration enforcement after being detained by federal agents and transferred from California to Louisiana.

Dr. Ann Lawani, 39, was taken into custody at her Lodi home on September 16. She is now being held at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center, prompting relatives, colleagues and California Congressman Josh Harder to demand her return.

NBC Bay Area’s Jodi Hernandez reported on November 10 that Lawani’s supporters say she has protection under a legal ruling known as withholding of removal, which prevents her deportation to Nigeria because of the risk of persecution. She also holds a work permit.

However, the Department of Homeland Security has told other news outlets that her detention stems from a final removal order issued in 2013. That distinction is important: withholding of removal protects someone from being sent to a particular country, but does not itself grant permanent immigration status.

Ann Lawani ICE detention raises questions over her transfer

Harder has written to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin seeking Lawani’s release and return to California while her case proceeds. In a November 10 statement, the congressman said her transfer to Louisiana raised concerns about due process and the justification for continued detention.

KQED reported that Harder also questioned why Lawani’s whereabouts were missing from ICE’s public detainee locator, leaving her family and lawyer struggling to find her. He further alleged that authorities had pursued removal to an undisclosed third country.

Lawani oversees nursing education at the University of San Francisco and also works at John Muir Health. Her colleagues say her absence is affecting students, faculty and the patients who depend on her clinical work.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to NBC Bay Area’s request for comment. The government’s stated basis for detention, however, remains part of the dispute.

Lawani’s case has drawn attention beyond her university, with her family and supporters continuing to press for her return.