By admin 
California lawmakers are calling for the release of Ann Lawani, a professor and nurse who was arrested at her Lodi home by immigration agents nearly two months ago and remains in immigration detention.
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Lawani’s arrest, first reported by the New York Times, has gained national attention as an example of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s new policy to exclude tens of thousands of immigrants with final deportation orders from its public database. The decision to hide detainees’ whereabouts has hurt families’ efforts to reach their loved ones and lawyers’ ability to provide legal representation.
In Lawani’s case, she was arrested on the morning of Sept. 16 at the Lodi home that she owns with her 83-year-old father. Lawani, a native of Nigeria, was shackled at the ankles, waist and hands and later moved through four facilities, according to the New York Times. Her family learned three days later that she was at an immigration detention center in Louisiana.
On Wednesday, Rep. Josh Harder, D-Tracy, asking the agency to facilitate Lawani’s return to California while her legal proceedings continue.
“Lawani’s case raises a fundamental question about the department’s enforcement priorities,” said Harder, who represents Lawani’s district, in the letter. “Americans expect ICE to focus its resources on individuals who pose genuine threats to public safety. Instead, federal agents have devoted significant resources to detaining and transporting individuals like Dr. Lawani, who have no criminal history.”
Lawani, who entered the U.S. in 2007 on a visitor visa and has an active work permit, earned her master’s and doctorate degrees in nursing at the University of San Diego. She served as a professor and nursing programs director overseeing hundreds of master’s degree students at the University of San Francisco before her detention.
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“Lawani is a person of exceptional professional accomplishment and moral character, deeply embedded in our university community, with responsibilities that hundreds of nursing students and, in turn, the patients they will someday care for, depend upon her fulfilling,” said Eileen K. Fry-Bowers, the dean of the School of Nursing and Health Professions at the University of San Francisco, in a written statement. “Her continued absence causes real and mounting harm to the students and faculty who rely on her mentorship.”
DHS, in an email Friday afternoon, said Lawani will remain in ICE custody pending her removal from the country. The agency added she was issued a removal order in 2013 and that work authorization does not confer legal status.
The New York Times found that an immigration judge denied Lawani’s asylum in 2013 though granted her “withholding of removal” to Nigeria, citing persecution if she returned. DHS did not appeal the decision and issued her work permit. Lawani has continued to renew the permit, and it is currently valid until 2029.
Her attorney Natalia Vieira Santanna did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“ICE disappearing her from her home is an absolute outrage,” said state Sen. Jerry McNerney, who represents Lawai’s district in the California Legislature. “It’s even more outrageous that ICE essentially kidnapped Professor Lawani, shackled her at the ankles, waist and hands, and secreted her to Louisiana, without notifying her family, her attorney or the public.”
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