A Cameroonian public health researcher at Johns Hopkins University has been released after spending several days in U.S. immigration custody following her arrest while attempting to board a domestic flight.
Fatima Ameaka was arrested Tuesday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. ICE said she had overstayed her visa. By Friday morning, she had been transferred from a detention facility in Virginia to another in Louisiana before being released.
According to her attorney, Benjamin Osorio, Ameaka’s arrest came despite her having a pending asylum application with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, another agency under the Department of Homeland Security.
Osorio said Ameaka holds a valid work authorization, which asylum applicants may obtain after their application has been pending for at least 180 days. He added that she had previously been granted Temporary Protected Status.
The circumstances surrounding her detention have drawn attention to the handling of immigration cases involving individuals with pending asylum claims and valid work authorization.
