Adi Remains in Prison Pending ICE Review

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Amer Adi Othman, known locally as Al Adi, remains at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center, a week after he was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Khaalid Walls, an ICE spokesman, reported in an email there had been “no substantive changes” in Adi’s case as of Tuesday afternoon.

“The request for an investigative report and stay of removal were received by ICE and are under review,” Walls said in the email. He could not speculate on the timetable for the review, he said.

On Jan. 16, Adi, his wife and his attorney went to the Brooklyn Heights ICE office for what was expected to be a routine meeting to discuss his case, Instead, Adi – owner of the Downtown Circle Convenience and Deli – was taken into custody for eventual deportation following a fight over his immigration that has lasted for decades.

Adi and his wife, Fidaa Musleh, had planned to leave the United States earlier this month, until they learned Adi’s deportation was cancelled Jan. 4.

Two days after ICE detained Adi, the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security in the U.S. House of Representatives voted to request that the Department of Homeland Security review Adi’s immigration case.

On Friday, when many had speculated Adi would be released from custody, ICE transferred him from the Geauga County Jail, where he was being held, to the prison on Youngstown-Hubbard Road for medical monitoring because he went on a hunger strike.

In the meantime, Adi “remains detained” at the Youngstown prison, “where his health continues to be monitored 24 hours a day by on-site medical professionals, consistent with hunger strike protocols,” Walls added.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.