Rami Othmane is a Tunisian musician who has lived in the U.S. since 2015, and though he overstayed his initial visa, a deportation order against him was dismissed in 2020. Despite following the exact same path to citizenship as Melania Trump, Rami is now in danger of deportation.
Rami married a LA physician Dr. Wafaa Alrashid, who is a U.S. citizen and chief medical officer at Huntington Hospital in March 2025. After the wedding, the couple promptly filed for Rami’s green card, but on July 13th, Rami was arrested by ICE on his way to the grocery store.
Wafaa watched on FaceTime as her husband, a Tunisian musician with a pending green card application, was arrested by federal immigration agents on what she called "probably the worst day of my life."
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents pulled over Rami Othmane while he was driving to a grocery store in Pasadena on July 13, the Associated Press (AP) reported, before he pulled out paperwork he was carrying.
"They didn't care, they said, 'Please step out of the car," Wafaa Alrashid recalled.
Alrashid said her husband has since been subjected to "inhumane treatment." The DHS told California news station KABC in a statement that detainees receive "proper meals, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with lawyers and their family members."
On learning her husband had been stopped, Alrashid got into her car and tracked his location on her phone, the AP reported. She reached the scene just in time to catch a glimpse of the outline of his head through the back window of a vehicle as it drove away, the agency said.
"Agents blocked his car, did not show a warrant and did not identify themselves," Othmane's family said.
The family said Othmane suffers from chronic pain and has an untreated tumor.
Othmane remains in federal custody at an immigration detention facility in Arizona.
"When they took him, he was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and flip-flops," Alrashid told a rally of fellow musicians, immigration advocates and activists outside the facility more than a week after his arrest.
"So he was freezing. Also, there are no beds, no pillows, no blankets, no soap, No toothbrushes and toothpaste. And when you're in a room with people, bathrooms open, there's no door. So it's very dehumanizing, it's undignifying, the food is not great either."
Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Newsweek in an emailed statement on Monday:"Rami Jilani Othmane, an illegal alien from Tunisia, was arrested by CBP on July 13. His B-2 tourist visa expired more than nine years ago. He will remain in custody at ICE's Eloy Detention Center pending his removal proceedings.”
Wafaa and Rami is following the same path Donald Trump used to sponsor the First Lady to legal status. Meliana Trump overstayed her visa after she entered the US in the 1990s. She married Donald Trump in 2005 and applied for her green card after the marriage.
The government announced earlier this week that immigrants and their spouses or family members who sponsor them “should be aware that a family-based petition accords no immigration status nor does it bar removal,” the policy states.
Immigrants who are married to U.S. citizens have long expected that they won’t be deported from the country while going through the process of obtaining a green card.
But new guidance from Donald Trump’s administration explicitly states that immigrants seeking lawful residence through marriage can be deported, a policy that also applies to immigrants with pending requests.
Immigration authorities can begin removal proceedings for immigrants who lack legal status and applied to become a lawful permanent resident through a citizen spouse, according to guidance from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued this month.
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/rami-othmane/
https://www.gofundme.com/f/bring-rami-othmane-home
https://www.newsweek.com/green-card-applicant-arrested-ice-grocery-store-california-2108413