A Durham father of two children with serious medical needs is facing imminent deportation, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Ademola Shobande is expected to be deported to Nigeria at ten tonight, according to a spokesperson for the SPLC, whose Georgia-based Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative is representing Shobande.
“As the primary caretaker for his sons, Mr. Shobande worked nights to be able to be with them and take them to their various appointments during the day,” says Jen Fuson. ” … Mr. Sobande is being deported, without having the opportunity goodbye to his two sons. Mr. Shobande has no criminal history.”
According to Fuson, Shobande came to the U.S. from Nigeria in 1997 on a tourist visa and tried unsuccessfully to get asylum. He had been employed by Durham County and, according to Fuson, had a work permit before being unexpectedly detained at an immigration check-in on March 15.
Shobande had applied for a stay of removal, but his attorney learned this afternoon via an email from ICE that the request had been denied. Fuson says Shobande was moved this morning from the Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, Georgia, to Atlanta for removal. ICE’s online detainee locator shows no results for his name.
