Baltimore: 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.
According to Cameroon News Agency, Fatima Ameaka was arrested Tuesday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. ICE stated that 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.
Her attorney, Benjamin Osorio, highlighted that Ameaka's arrest occurred despite her having a pending asylum application with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, another agency under the Department of Homeland Security. Osorio noted that Ameaka holds a valid work authorization, which asylum applicants may obtain after their application has been pending for at least 180 days. He also mentioned 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, raising concerns about the processes and coordination between different immigration authorities.