Dr. Ann Lawani Controversy Explained as Anger Grows Over ICE Arrest

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A California nurse and university professor has been held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody for nearly two months after being arrested at her home, prompting calls for her release from relatives, colleagues, and elected officials.

Dr. Ann Lawani, 39, was detained by federal immigration agents in Lodi, California, on September 16 and later transferred to Louisiana, according to her attorney and colleagues at the University of San Francisco, where she is a nursing professor.

A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson told Newsweek that Lawani “received due process and was issued a final order of removal on August 6, 2013,” and “will remain in ICE custody pending removal from the United States.”

The spokesperson said Lawani, a Nigerian national, legally entered the United States on June 7, 2007, on a temporary visa but remained after her authorized stay expired on July 6, 2007.

“To be clear: work authorization does not confer legal status in the U.S.,” the spokesperson added.

Lawani applied for asylum within a year of arriving in the country, her attorney, Natalia Vieira Santanna, told KCRA. An immigration judge denied the application in August 2013 but granted Lawani withholding of removal to Nigeria, Santanna said.

Withholding of removal can prevent the government from deporting a person to a country where they are found likely to face persecution, but it does not provide permanent residency or eliminate an underlying removal order.

Santanna told KCRA that Lawani’s work authorization remains valid through April 2029.

Lawani works as a nurse at John Muir Health and as an educator at the University of San Francisco, where she oversees a master’s nursing program serving approximately 230 students.

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