A public health researcher at Johns Hopkins University was arrested by immigration officers while boarding a domestic flight earlier this week. A lawyer for Fatima Ameaka told CBS News on Saturday that his client was released from detention on Friday night
A Johns Hopkins spokesperson said Ameaka, an employee at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, was detained while preparing to board a flight at Baltimore-Washington International BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport for a personal trip
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security told CBS Baltimore media partner, The Baltimore Banner, that agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency arrested Ameaka on July 28 at BWI
DHS said Ameaka entered the United States in 2023 on a visa that has since expired and would remain in ICE detention while awaiting an immigration court hearing
“On July 28, 2026, ICE arrested Fatima Ameaka, an illegal alien from Cameroon, at the Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. On June 27, 2023, she entered the country on a visa that would allow her to remain in the country until June 13, 2024. In violation of our nation’s laws, she overstayed her visa. She will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings,” a spokesperson for DHS told CBS News Baltimore
Ameaka’s lawyer, Benjamin Osorio, told CBS News that she was released Friday night and has a preliminary hearing scheduled for August 10 in Annandale. Osorio said he believes that hearing may get cancelled and that they are filing a change of venue this coming week, as Ameaka lives in Baltimore
The detention comes as the Trump administration ramps up immigration enforcement at U.S. airports amid increased collaboration between the Transportation Security Administration and ICE
“Though we cannot comment on the specifics of her situation, we want to assure our community that the university is actively working to provide support for Dr. Ameaka, including ensuring she has access to legal representation,” a Johns Hopkins spokesperson said in a statement
The spokesperson added that the university is “deeply concerned” about ICE detaining Dr. Ameaka, who they described as “a respected member of our community.”
ICE ICE has fueled more reports of immigration arrests at U.S. airports
zen travelers to ICE, including information on immigrants who don’t have criminal records but are suspected of civil immigration violations, such as overstaying a visa
In May 2025, TSA and ICE agreed to boost information sharing between the two agencies, according to a memo disclosed this week by the group American Oversight
An ICEorts are “easy targets” ICE agents can arrest in secured locations and while having information about their cases in advance.Â
In a statement to CBS News, Homeland Security confirmed that immigration enforcement at airports has increased
“DHS reversed the horrendous Biden-era policy that allowed aliens in our country illegally to jet around our country,” DHS stated. “Under President Trump, DHS will no longer tolerate this. This administration is working diligently to ensure that aliens in our country illegally can no longer fly unless it is out of our country to self-deport.”
