St. Paul woman, U.S. citizen, released from ICE detention after two days

Nasra Ahmed, a St. Paul woman and U.S. citizen who was born in Minnesota, was released to her family without charges on Friday night after being detained by federal immigration enforcement agents and spending more than two days in detention.

“She went home traumatized, not eating, not talking, pissed off,” said state Rep. Samakab Hussein, who helped her family locate her in federal detention at the Sherburne County Jail and Fort Snelling. “She feels that she got kidnapped. The law is not protecting her. She was humiliated.”

Ahmed, 23, was forced into a car by two Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as she was leaving her apartment complex on Lower Afton Road around 11 a.m. Wednesday, an encounter that was captured on video by neighbors who attempted to advocate on her behalf.

Ahmed, who was born in Hennepin County and raised in St. Paul, and suffers from seizures, according to her family. She had been on her way to pick up prescription medication when the detention occurred. A review of Minnesota court records shows no documented criminal history.

Unsure of her whereabouts, her father contacted Hussein, who tracked her whereabouts to the Sherburne County Jail, which boards detainees for ICE. Her father, Mohamed Ahmed, attempted to contact her but was unable to speak with her in person on Thursday, he said.

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In Minnesota, individuals detained by law enforcement are generally expected to receive a probable cause hearing before a judge within 48 hours, or they must be released. Federal detainees must be released within 72 hours.

On Friday morning, a jail roster listed Ahmed as being held on pending federal felony charges, but gave no further details. She was released around 7:45 p.m. that evening without charges, Hussein said.

“Sherburne County sent her back to Fort Snelling, and Fort Snelling released her yesterday after we talked to her attorney, (a federal public defender),” he said. “I said, ‘(They’ve) been holding onto a U.S. citizen for over 48 hours. What’s the deal?’ He said, ‘There’s been a lot of changes. Everyone I know has resigned.’”

“I don’t know what to say other than to make her comfortable,” Hussein added. “She’s devastated. They treated her with no respect.”

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