Major row over airport detention of Johns Hopkins health researcher Fatima Ameaka; Colleagues say she is brilliant but DHS says she is an 'illegal'

Fatima Ameaka, a Johns Hopkins University public health researcher, was detained by ICE at an airport on Tuesday while boarding a domestic flight.

DHS claims Ameaka overstayed her visa and violated the law, but her attorney says she entered on a student visa and applied for temporary protected status and asylum.

Ameaka is a Fulbright scholar from Cameroon and works as a senior analyst at the Center for Outbreak Response Innovation at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen criticized the detention, stating Ameaka is not a dangerous criminal and that deporting her does not make the US safer.

Ameaka was released but her case remains ongoing, with her employer and colleagues describing her as a talented researcher improving public health responses to epidemics.