ICE: Harder Demands Release of Local Nurse, Educator Detained in Louisiana on Threat of Deportation

November 10, 2026 Press Release New York Times highlights Dr. Ann Lawani’s life in the Valley threatened by aggressive ICE policies Image Harder wrote to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin demanding Dr. Lawani be returned to California for legal proceedings after being abruptly transferred across the country WASHINGTON – Today, Rep. Josh Harder (CA-09) sounded the alarm on outrageous new deportation tactics by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that caused a local constituent to be detained, arrested, and abruptly transported across the country. Dr. Ann Lawani – a nurse, caregiver, and 13-year resident of Lodi in the U.S. legally under judicial protection – was sent thousands of miles away to Louisiana in violation of a federal court order. In response, Harder wrote to U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin to demand Dr. Lawani’s immediate return to California for any further legal proceedings. Dr. Lawani lives in Lodi, where she is a caregiver for her 83-year-old father. She also oversees the education of 230 nursing students at the University of San Francisco, and she practices as a nurse at John Muir Health. Her abrupt absence has already caused significant disruptions on campus and pulled yet another healthcare worker away from a community facing severe shortages. Dr. Lawani’s story was featured this morning in the New York Times. “Given her longstanding compliance, lack of criminal history, and substantial community ties, there is no apparent public safety justification for keeping Dr. Lawani detained thousands of miles from home while her case proceeds,” wrote Rep. Harder . “Our immigration enforcement system should focus on protecting communities from danger, not removing the individuals who dedicate their lives to serving them. Dr. Lawani's continued detention undermines that mission while imposing unnecessary harm on her family and the countless people who depend on her.” In his letter, Harder demanded that ICE release Dr. Lawani under an order of supervision and facilitate her immediate return to California, and that DHS provide her and her attorney with the proposed country of removal, supporting travel documentation, and an explanation of the basis for her continued detention. “My sister is an amazing caregiver, healthcare leader, and educator in our community, and I was devastated not just at her unacceptable arrest, but the decision to send her across the country and detain her unnecessarily. Not only is Dr. Ann a scholar in her profession, but an extremely skilled nurse with unmatched dedication to her patients and students alike. She gives everything she has, daily, to save lives and train the nurses of the future to be as trained, ready and dedicated as she is. As a recognized expert in palliative care as well, I can assure anyone, countless lives have been lost due to her absence, since her wrongful detainment. For someone that vital to the community to be tracked, abruptly vacuumed into an abyss and moved across the country, is simply EVIL and consequential. My family and I want to see my sister returned home safely and as soon as possible, and like so many families in our community, we want an end to the chaos caused by these agencies. I want to thank Congressman Harder for his work to bring Ann home as well as the USF family for their relentless support,” said Samuel Lawani, brother of Dr. Lawani . “I speak with confidence to what I know firsthand: Dr. Ann Lawani is a person of exceptional professional accomplishment and moral character, deeply embedded in our university community, with responsibilities that hundreds of nursing students and, in turn, the patients they will someday care for, depend upon her fulfilling. Her continued absence causes real and mounting harm to the students and faculty who rely on her mentorship, to our accreditation-mandated curriculum work, and to the safety-net partnerships she has built,” said Eileen K. Fry-Bowers, Dean of the School of Nursing and Health Professions . Read Harder’s full letter to DHS Secretary Mullin here . Harder has been pushing for reforms at ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for months, including successfully calling for former Secretary Kristi Noem’s firing. Following her departure, Harder demanded the new Secretary Markwayne Mullin prioritize clear standards for enforcement, bans on face coverings, mandatory identification, new use-of-force policies, and bans on racial profiling. Harder has also continued to oppose any new federal funding for ICE until these reforms are enacted, and he has repeatedly conducted oversight investigations at the Stockton ICE facility. ### Issues : Immigration