The Tunisian man endures “inhumane circumstances” within a federal building in downtown Los Angeles after the US immigration agency arrested him this month, his family says.
Rami Osmane took place on July 13th while driving to the grocery store. His wife, Dr. Wafaa Alrashid, said the agent blocked Othmane’s car and did not identify himself or present a warrant before detaining him.
Alrashid, the chief of medical staff at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, was on FaceTime with her husband during the incident. The couple got married on March 5, 2024 and filed an I-130 petition last month to qualify the relationship status to obtain an Orthmane green card.
Alrashid said Othmane, whose Instagram account says he is a singer and music producer, added that he is legally in the country and suffers from chronic pain and untreated tumors.
Family photos of Dr. Wafaa Alrashid and Dr. Rami Othmane.
(Dr. Wafaa Alrashid)
Since his arrest, Osmane has been kept in a federal building – sleeping on a cold floor with no bedding, hygiene or privacy, his wife said.
“This is not just an issue of immigration. It’s a human rights crisis,” Alrashid said in a statement. “My husband has been undergoing 12 days of inhumane medical care in a federal building. He is not a criminal. He is a kind and peaceful man with an open immigration petition.”
In a post on Instagram, Alrashid said the conditions were not inconvenient and detainees are expected to be fed at random times and share open toilets.
On Friday, the National Day Laborer Organization Network, a Pasadena-based advocacy group, organized a protest alert calling for the release of Osmane outside a federal detention facility in downtown LA, known as the B-18.
“Like all immigrants – like all humans, he is treated with decency and respect, and deserves a legitimate process of law. These fundamental rights seem to be brutally denied him,” the organization said Friday. “We are demanding that we put an end to lawless campaigns of assaults and arrests that have led to serious injustice, like my friend Rami and many other incarceration.”
