A lawsuit filed this week asks for the release of Omar Jamal, a Somali community advocate and Ramsey County sheriff civilian officer who was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last month.

Jamal was picked up by ICE agents on Aug. 29 in Minneapolis and remains at the Freeborn County jail in Albert Lea, where many federal detainees are held. In 2005, Jamal was convicted in federal court in Tennessee on immigration fraud and sentenced to a year of probation.

Omar Jamal speaks at a news conference at the state Capitol in St. Paul on Jan. 27, 2005. (John Doman / Pioneer Press)

Attorneys for Jamal, of Minneapolis, filed a petition in U.S. District Court of Minnesota asking a judge to immediately review the legality of Jamal’s detention. A temporary restraining order seeks to stop ICE from sending him to another country without full due process.

“To be perfectly clear: the United States government is legally and permanently barred from deporting my client, Omar Jamal, to Somalia,” said Abdiqani Jabane, Jamal’s lead counsel, on Wednesday. “This is not a matter of administrative discretion; it is a final, binding order from a U.S. immigration court.”

An immigration judge in 2005 granted Jamal “withholding of removal” to Somalia after finding his life or freedom would be threatened there, according to Jabane, who added the decision was upheld in 2011.

“This form of protection is mandatory and permanent,” he said. “It means the government cannot send him to Somalia under any circumstances unless a court overturns that order, which has not happened.”

Since Somalia is legally off the table, ICE has spent over a decade trying to send Jamal to Canada, which has refused to give him a travel document, said Nico Ratkowski, Jabane’s co-counsel.

“Basically, the only thing they can do is they could theoretically deport him to a third country, if they’re willing to accept him,” Ratkowski said. “But, in reality, that’s never happening.”

If Canada wants to give Jamal a travel document, Ratkowski said, ICE is “absolutely allowed to deport him there. But if they want to try to deport him to Uganda, an immigration judge should get to review whether or not that’s actually safe.”

Applied in Canada, U.S.

According to a 2003 federal indictment, Jamal applied for refugee status after arriving in Toronto in 1989 at age 16 and was granted immigrant status two years later. He then failed to disclose his Canadian immigrant status when he applied for asylum in Memphis in 1998.

Jamal was indicted and arrested in 2003, when he was the executive director of the now-defunct Somali Justice Advocacy Center in St. Paul and an outspoken critic of government efforts to deport Somali refugees to their war-torn homeland. He was found guilty of six counts of immigration fraud, and at risk of deportation.

Jamal’s arrest in Minneapolis was caught on video by the conservative news website Newsmax, which was on a ride-along with the ICE St. Paul field office. A portion of the Newsmax report was later shared on Homeland Security’s X account.

The Department of Homeland Security soon released a statement that said Jamal’s “rap sheet” also includes assault and a court ordered restraining order from his wife and children.

Jabane disputes that claim, saying Jamal told him the assault allegation and restraining order were dismissed. Court records show his criminal history in Minnesota is made up of traffic violations.

Law enforcement work

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Jamal has worked with law enforcement, raised a family and remained in full compliance with the law, Jabane said; his arrest “shocked a community that knows him not as a danger, but as a bridge-builder.”

Jamal, who joined the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office as a civilian community service officer in 2020, also has the backing of Sheriff Bob Fletcher. At the request of Jabane, Fletcher provided an affidavit in which he said he supports a request for Jamal’s release under supervision.

“In my experience, Mr. Jamal has demonstrated professionalism and a commitment to community well-being,” the affidavit read. “I have never known him to pose a threat to public safety. On the contrary, he has often acted as a stabilizing presence and a mediator in complex situations.”

Longtime chaplain for Loyola Chicago’s men’s basketball team, Sister Jean, has retired at 106 because of health concerns. The school’s student newspaper, The Loyola Phoenix, announced her retirement earlier this month.

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Sister Jean rose to the spotlight during Loyola Chicago’s trip to the Final Four in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. She was spotted cheering courtside throughout the Ramblers’ improbable run.

She published a memoir in 2023, “Wake Up with Purpose! What I’ve Learned in My First 100 Years,” sharing lessons she’d learned throughout her life and offering spiritual advice. Sister Jean turned 106 on Aug. 21.

Sister Jean served as the team’s chaplain for 30 years, providing players with support, mentorship and encouragement. She became a beloved figure at the university and a local celebrity in the community.

By JOSH BOAK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he was the victim of “three very sinister events” during his time at the United Nations on Tuesday and that the Secret Service will be looking into the issues.

The president was attending the U.N. General Assembly, where he gave a speech excoriating the institution for having squandered its potential. He also criticized U.S. allies in Europe for their handling of the Russian war in Ukraine and their acceptance of immigrants as he told fellow world leaders that their nations were “going to hell.”

On his social media website, Trump indicated that he was in a sour mood at the U.N. because of a trio of mishaps that he suggested was part of a conspiracy against him.

First, the escalator came to a “screeching halt” with Trump and his entourage on it, an event that Trump called “absolutely sabotage.”

Stephane Dujarric, the U.N. spokesman, said a videographer from the U.S. delegation who ran ahead of Trump may have “inadvertently” triggered the stop mechanism at the top of the escalator.

“The people that did it should be arrested,” Trump said on Truth Social.

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Second, Trump said his teleprompter went “stone cold dark” during his address to the U.N. The problem with that accusation is the White House was responsible for operating the teleprompter for the president, according to a U.N. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Third, Trump said that the sound was off at the U.N. as he spoke and that people could only hear his remarks if they had interpreters speaking into earpieces. Trump said his wife, Melania, told him she couldn’t hear what he said.

“This wasn’t a coincidence, this was triple sabotage,” said Trump, who is seeking an investigation of the matter.

Trump told the U.N. to save its security tapes regarding the escalator stoppage as the Secret Service will be involved in the inquiry.

With the Wild skating 4-on-4 in a morning practice at TRIA Rink, the puck was dumped into the corner to the right of the goalie. Immediately defenders Jared Spurgeon and Zeev Buium converged, prepared to clear the zone. But they didn’t get the chance.

Hunter Haight crashed the party, wedging himself, at high speed, between the defensemen and refusing to quit the board battle before he’d not only won the puck, but flipped it to the hashmarks for a shot on goal by practice linemate Vladimir Tarasenko.

While some would call that a defensive failing, the play brought a smile to the face of at least one grizzled NHL veteran.

“It’s tough to do it against those guys, so it’s kind of nice when you see your veteran partner get beat by a young kid once in a while, as long as it’s not you,” Wild forward Marcus Foligno said, in praise of Haight. “He’s got that second effort that you want to see. He’s gonna be here sooner or later.”

At this point it’s unknown whether Haight – the Wild’s second round pick from the 2022 NHL draft – will head to Iowa for his second season in the AHL, or be instructed to find a place to live in St. Paul. But for now, the 21-year-old forward is making every effort to crack the opening night line chart in “the show.”

“I feel great. I think I can play with those guys, and we’re making plays out there, and I think we complement each other well,” said Haight, 21, after playing left wing in practice on a line with Tarasenko on the other wing and Joel Eriksson Ek at center. “So it’s an opportunity that I’m trying to take advantage of and make the most of it while I can.”

New opportunities have been coming around in September for the past few years. After four years of major junior hockey in his native Ontario and in Michigan, Haight made the step up to the AHL last season, spending 67 games in Iowa with the Wild’s top minor league affiliate. Haight finished second on the team in goals with 20, and after some adjustment found better competition, and better teammates, to his liking.

“They’re bigger, they’re stronger. It’s more of a structured game, compared to juniors. And it’s a good learning curve for me. I got a lot of new experiences, and I thought I handled a lot of things really well that year,” he said. “When you’re playing with better guys, I think a guy like me, I raised my level up to that, and I think my speed, my hockey sense, all that kind of just ties in really well with better players.”

At training camp, Haight is definitely in a group of “bubble” players whose next team — Minnesota or Iowa — will be determined by injuries and other factors in the coming weeks. But heading into the third preseason game, he has gotten noticed.

“I see a player that’s grown. I think of maturity, physically, competitive-wise, his details, his pace,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “You’re looking at a player now that he’s not like a wide-eyed young guy. I think he gets the gist of what’s going on and what’s going to be required of him to give himself a chance to play.”

He spent the summer working off the ice, in an effort to add size and strength to his frame, which is officially listed as 5-foot-11, 187 pounds. In the Wild’s preseason opener in Winnipeg, Haight showed a propensity to chase the puck with reckless abandon, when he crashed the crease and tied the game with less than three minutes left in regulation.

“I actually didn’t know it went in,” Haight admitted, with a smile. “I was kind of going into the end boards. But the guys came over to congratulate me and help me up, so that was nice.”

In games and in practice during his third Wild training camp, that propensity of going hard toward the puck may earn Haight a NHL roster spot next month.

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