SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — The University of San Francisco renewed calls Thursday for the release of Ann Lawani from a Louisiana immigration detention center, where she has been held for nearly two months since U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents took her from her home in Lodi on Sept. 16.
According to her attorney, Natalia Vieira Santanna, Lawani entered the United States on a visitor visa in 2007 and applied for asylum within a year. Her asylum request was denied in 2013, and that August, she was issued a final order of removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1231, which generally requires the government to remove a person within 90 days after a removal order becomes final.
However, 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3)(A) prohibits removal to a country where a person’s life or freedom would be threatened because of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion.
Under this provision, an immigration judge granted Lawani withholding of removal to her home country of Nigeria after determining that she would more likely than not face persecution there.
The Department of Homeland Security did not appeal the decision and issued Lawani a work permit the following year, according to her attorney. She has renewed the permit regularly, and her current authorization remains valid until 2029.
Santanna emphasized that the protection granted by the immigration judge remains in effect.
“That is not a temporary stay. It is a continuing bar to removal to Nigeria. Dr Lawani has lived in the United States pursuant to that grant of withholding of removal since 2013,” Santanna told The Guardian.
Withholding of removal does not provide lawful permanent resident status or necessarily prevent deportation to another country. However, it prohibits the government from returning Lawani to Nigeria while the protection remains in effect.
Following what one of Lawani’s students described as her “kidnapping,” Santanna filed a habeas corpus petition in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California challenging the legality of her detention.
According to Lawani’s attorney and supporters, the legal process was complicated by ICE’s failure to consistently disclose her whereabouts as she was transferred between detention facilities.
After being taken from her home while still wearing pajamas and flip-flops, Lawani was shackled at her hands, waist and ankles and transported to an ICE detention facility in California. She was subsequently transferred through facilities in California and Texas before arriving in Louisiana, more than 2,000 miles from her home.
When University of San Francisco faculty and administrators learned of Lawani’s arrest and detention, they rallied around her and her family, helping secure legal representation and raising concerns with elected officials.
In late October, Rep. Josh Harder, D-Stockton, who represents California’s 9th Congressional District, contacted DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin regarding Lawani’s case, expressing concerns about the lack of notice before her arrest and the failure of ICE’s online detainee database to accurately reflect her whereabouts.
In an Oct. 20 letter, Harder wrote, “Given her longstanding compliance, lack of criminal history, and substantial community ties, there is no apparent public safety justification for keeping her detained thousands of miles from home while her case proceeds.”
Harder urged DHS to release Lawani under an order of supervision, facilitate her return to California and provide her attorney with information about the government’s proposed country of removal and the legal basis for her continued detention.
Lawani’s detention has also deeply affected her university community. She established herself as a nursing professional before earning a master’s degree and doctorate in the field.
She joined the University of San Francisco in 2023, directing a bachelor’s program for students seeking careers in public health safety-net institutions and a master’s entry program for students without nursing backgrounds.
According to university officials, Lawani’s work involves nearly 300 students, many of whom have expressed concern about her absence.
Before her detention, Lawani served as a caregiver for her 83-year-old father while also working as a nurse at John Muir Health, specializing in the care of critically ill and terminally ill patients.
Eileen Fry-Bowers, dean of the University of San Francisco’s School of Nursing and Health Professions, praised Lawani’s dedication to her patients and students.
“She cares for the most vulnerable, helps them maintain their dignity and comfort as they prepare for death,” Fry-Bowers told The Guardian. “She is a consummate professional. The highest praise I could ever give a nursing colleague is that I would want them taking care of my family member or myself, and she would be at the top of the list.”
On Sept. 29, U.S. District Judge Daniel Calabretta rejected the government’s attempt to transfer Lawani’s habeas case to Louisiana, finding that “no diligent attorney could have known” her whereabouts when the petition was filed.
Calabretta also barred federal officials from deporting Lawani while her petition remained pending and ordered the government to explain why she should not be released.
The Department of Homeland Security has defended Lawani’s detention, stating that she entered the United States legally on a visitor visa in 2007 but remained after her authorized stay expired.
DHS also pointed to the final removal order issued in 2013, maintaining that Lawani’s work authorization does not change her immigration status and that she will remain in custody pending removal.
Her attorney disputes the completeness of that explanation, noting that the same immigration proceedings resulted in a grant of withholding of removal that continues to protect her against deportation to Nigeria.
The legality of Lawani’s continued detention remains at issue in her pending habeas proceedings.
On Tuesday, Harder renewed his demands for ICE to release Lawani under an order of supervision and allow her to return to California. His efforts have received support from state Sen. Jerry McNerney, U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff and Rep. Kevin Mullin.
The University of San Francisco has also continued advocating for Lawani’s release, emphasizing her role in educating future nurses and caring for vulnerable patients.
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