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 (ICE) for nearly two months, despite court decisions reportedly granting her protection against deportation to Nigeria.
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Lawani, a 39-year-old California-based nurse and professor at the University of San Francisco, was arrested by federal immigration agents at her home in Lodi, California, in September 2026.
Her continued detention has attracted growing criticism from lawmakers, colleagues and family members, who have questioned why she remains in immigration custody despite having lived in the United States for 21 years, worked as a nurse and contributed to the training of healthcare professionals.
According to a report by NBC News on Wednesday, political representatives and colleagues of the Nigerian professor have intensified efforts to secure her release, raising concerns about the circumstances of her arrest, continued detention and transfers between immigration facilities.
California State Senator Jerry McNerney, who represents the state’s 5th District, disclosed that efforts were underway to challenge Lawani’s continued detention and pressure federal authorities to reconsider her case.
“We are going to do everything we can to pressure the federal level to put a stop to this,” McNerney said.
Similarly, Josh Harder, the representative of California’s 9th Congressional District, wrote to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), questioning the legal justification for keeping the Nigerian professor in custody.
Harder maintained that an immigration judge had previously granted Lawani protection from deportation to Nigeria after determining that she could face persecution if returned to the country.
According to the lawmaker, a federal judge had also blocked her removal, raising questions about the basis for her continued detention by immigration authorities.
He argued that Lawani’s record in the United States did not justify her prolonged detention and accused ICE of acting outside its legal mandate.
“I think this case is the perfect example of ICE breaking their mandate and breaking the law,” Harder declared.
The case has also generated concern among Lawani’s colleagues at the University of San Francisco, who have spoken publicly about her detention and the uncertainty surrounding her immigration situation.
One of her colleagues, Dr Eileen Fry-Bowers, disclosed that Lawani was initially detained in California before being transferred to immigration facilities in Texas and subsequently Louisiana.
Fry-Bowers recalled receiving an unexpected message from Lawani informing her that immigration agents had detained her and that she did not understand what was happening.
“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,” she said.
The professor’s detention has consequently prompted her colleagues to raise public awareness about the case, with the hope that sustained advocacy and intervention by political representatives would lead to her release.
Lawani has reportedly lived in the United States for 21 years, during which she has worked in nursing and contributed to educating future healthcare professionals.
Her colleagues have pointed to her professional contributions and longstanding residence in the country while questioning the necessity of her continued detention.
However, the Department of Homeland Security has defended the immigration action, maintaining that Lawani’s authorisation to work in the United States did not change her underlying immigration status.
In a statement to CBS News, the department explained that the Nigerian professor had overstayed her admission to the United States in 2007 and was subsequently issued a final removal order in 2013.
According to DHS, the fact that Lawani had obtained employment authorisation did not invalidate the removal order or regularise her immigration status.
The department maintained that she would remain in immigration custody pending removal.
“Being in detention is a choice. We encourage all illegal aliens to take control of their departure,” the department stated.
The government’s position has created a dispute with lawmakers who have questioned the continued detention, particularly in light of the judicial protection against deportation to Nigeria described by Harder.
While the lawmaker maintained that an immigration judge had recognised the risk of persecution Lawani could face if returned to Nigeria and that a federal judge had also blocked her removal, DHS relied on her immigration history and the final removal order issued in 2013 to justify her continued custody.
The information provided does not explain how the removal order and the reported judicial protections interact or whether any further court proceedings are pending.
Meanwhile, Lawani’s family, colleagues and political representatives continue to press for her release.
The campaign has drawn attention to her prolonged detention, her transfers between facilities in California, Texas and Louisiana, and her professional career as a nurse and university professor.
Despite the growing demands for her release and questions about the legal justification for her detention, US immigration authorities have not announced a timeline for her removal.
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