BALTIMORE — A public health researcher at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health was detained and arrested by federal immigration authorities while boarding a domestic flight at BWI Marshall Airport this week, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed to The Baltimore Sun.

Fatima Ameaka, a research associate at the Bloomberg School of Public Health who was once a Fulbright scholar, was traveling for personal reasons Tuesday before being brought in by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a university spokesperson said.

The researcher is originally from Cameroon and is being held in custody at an ICE processing center in south Louisiana, according to online ICE records.

According to DHS, Ameaka, a citizen of Cameroon, entered the United States on June 27, 2023, on a visa that authorized her to remain in the country until June 13, 2024. The agency said she overstayed her visa and remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

The university said it is “actively working to provide support for Dr. Ameaka, including ensuring she has access to legal representation.”

“Johns Hopkins is deeply concerned to have learned of the recent detention of Fatima Ameaka, an employee at the Bloomberg School of Public Health and a respected member of our community,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

An online fundraising campaign organized by someone who identifies herself as “Sarah F”, who indicates she is a friend and co-worker at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, pledges to use proceeds to help pay Ameaka’s legal fees and seek her release from detention. The campaign describes Ameaka as “a brilliant scientist” and says she has worked as a research associate at Johns Hopkins.

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump vowed to deport “millions and millions” of people who entered the country illegally, if elected. As president, he has sharply increased immigration enforcement, saying the crackdown is intended to make America safer, with ICE arresting more than 321,000 people in 2025, more than triple the previous year, and expanding deportations.

A request for comment sent to the White House was not returned by early Friday evening.

Council on American-Islamic Relations Maryland Director Zainab Chaudry denounced Ameaka’s arrest in a statement, saying Ameaka did not pose a threat to public safety.

“Treating people suspected of civil immigration violations like dangerous criminals, ambushing them in airports and subjecting them to prolonged detention is cruel, unnecessary and fundamentally at odds with the principles of due process and human dignity,” Chaudry said.

Ameaka studied at Johns Hopkins to get her master’s degree in public health as a Fulbright scholar and graduated in 2024, according to her university bio. She previously earned a doctorate in pharmacy from the University of Yaoundé in Cameroon in 2019, per her LinkedIn profile.

Her research interests are in outbreak response and epidemic preparedness, with her helping write a paper that reviewed the duration of measles virus exposure, which was published in February.

Based on what she knows about the case, immigration attorney Jennifer Molina said Ameaka appears to meet the standard for release on bond. Judges generally consider whether someone poses a danger to the community or a flight risk, and Molina said Ameaka’s employment at a well-known university and record as a public health researcher weigh strongly in her favor.

“What’s the danger to our community? In fact, this person is contributing to our community, so it’s a complete opposite, so a judge would easily grant bond to this person,” Molina said.

But getting in front of a judge is a separate challenge. Molina said when her clients are bounced between detention centers around the country — as Ameaka was moved to Louisiana — it can make it hard to get in touch with legal representation, delay hearings and prolong their time in custody.

The university said its Office of International Services provides guidance to international students, faculty, and staff on travel and changes to federal immigration policies, and it referred community members to its online immigration guidance.

The detention comes as the Trump administration has expanded immigration enforcement, including at airports. The Department of Homeland Security has said it reversed a Biden-era policy that allowed many immigrants without legal status to travel domestically by air and that it is working to prevent people in the country illegally from flying unless they are leaving the United States.

BWI Deputy Director of Communications Shane Goad said that the airport is not involved in federal immigration enforcement actions and that ICE, like other federal law enforcement agencies, operates under its own legal authority.

Inside BWI on Friday, businessman and former Baltimore mayoral candidate Bob Wallace spoke to The Sun before catching a flight. Wallace condemned the federal immigration agency, saying it’s “very similar” to what Brownshirts, a violent military group, were during the Nazi era in Germany.

“If people don’t wake up and respond to this, then I think we fall further and further into losing our democracy,” Wallace added.

DHS, in a statement to The Sun, encouraged immigrants without legal status to voluntarily leave the country through the CBP Home app.

“Being in detention is a choice,” the agency said. “The United States is offering illegal aliens $2,600 and a free flight to self-deport now… If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return.”

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Chevall Pryce and Bridget Byrne contributed to this article.

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