US lawmakers demand release of detained Nigerian prof

United States lawmakers have demanded the release of a Nigerian nurse and university professor, Dr Ann Lawani, who has been detained by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement for nearly two months.

Lawani, a California-based nurse and professor at the University of San Francisco, was arrested by federal immigration agents at her home in Lodi in September.

According to an NBC News report on Wednesday, her family members, colleagues and political representatives have intensified calls for her release.

A California state senator representing the 5th District, Jerry McNerney, said efforts were underway to challenge her continued detention.

“We are going to do everything we can to pressure the federal level to put a stop to this,” McNerney said.

Similarly, the representative of California’s 9th Congressional District, Josh Harder, wrote to the Department of Homeland Security, questioning the justification for Lawani’s detention.

Harder stated that an immigration judge had granted Lawani protection from deportation to Nigeria after determining that she could face persecution in the country.

He added that a federal judge had also blocked her removal.

The lawmaker argued that Lawani’s record in the United States provided no justification for her continued detention.

“I think this case is the perfect example of ICE breaking their mandate and breaking the law,” Harder said.

According to her colleague at the University of San Francisco, Dr Eileen Fry-Bowers, the 39-year-old scholar was transferred from California to Texas and subsequently to Louisiana.

“I turned my phone on and there were a bunch of messages including a call to text message from Ann saying that she had been detained by immigration enforcement and that she didn’t know what was going on,” Fry-Bowers said.

Lawani has reportedly lived in the United States for 21 years, working as a nurse and training future healthcare professionals.

Fry-Bowers said her colleagues decided to speak publicly about the detention in the hope that sustained advocacy would secure her release.

Although Lawani had been authorised to work in the US, the Department of Homeland Security maintained that her employment authorisation did not alter her immigration status.

In a statement to CBS News, the department said Lawani overstayed her admission in 2007 and was issued a final removal order in 2013.

It maintained that she would remain in custody pending removal.

The department stated, “Being in detention is a choice. We encourage all illegal aliens to take control of their departure.”

US authorities have yet to announce a timeline for her removal.