Release Mutasim Nour: End His Unlawful 23-Month ICE Detention
The Issue
For nearly two years, Mutasim Ibrahim Abdoulrahman Nour has been locked in an immigration detention center — and he has never once been allowed to stand before a judge and ask to go free.
Nour, a citizen of Sudan, entered the United States in July 2024 and was immediately taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In the 23 months since, he has been denied a bond hearing — the basic legal process that gives someone the chance to argue they should be released while their case is decided. That process isn't a privilege. It's a foundational right in our legal system. Without it, the government can hold a person indefinitely, with no check on its power.
And here's the thing: Nour didn't lose his case. An immigration judge ruled on January 9, 2026 that he qualifies for protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) — an international treaty the United States signed. That ruling should have ended his detention. Instead, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) filed an appeal and kept him locked up.
This matters even more because ICE is violating its own rules. ICE's written policy, established in 2004 and acknowledged by DHS as still in effect, states that when the agency appeals a decision granting CAT protection, it should favor releasing the individual. ICE is not following its own policy.
In December 2025, Nour was quietly moved from a detention facility in Minnesota to the Muscatine County Jail in Iowa — without any notice to his attorneys. That transfer cut him off from his legal team mid-case. His lawyers are now asking a federal court to block any further transfers out of Iowa while the case is pending.
A federal judge has already ordered the government to explain the "true cause and lawful duration" of Nour's confinement. We are calling on ICE and DHS to do what the law, their own policies, and a court ruling already require: release Mutasim Nour immediately, and commit to keeping him in Iowa so he can continue working with his legal team.
Sign this petition to demand his release and to support the court order that would stop any further secret transfers.
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The Issue
For nearly two years, Mutasim Ibrahim Abdoulrahman Nour has been locked in an immigration detention center — and he has never once been allowed to stand before a judge and ask to go free.
Nour, a citizen of Sudan, entered the United States in July 2024 and was immediately taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In the 23 months since, he has been denied a bond hearing — the basic legal process that gives someone the chance to argue they should be released while their case is decided. That process isn't a privilege. It's a foundational right in our legal system. Without it, the government can hold a person indefinitely, with no check on its power.
And here's the thing: Nour didn't lose his case. An immigration judge ruled on January 9, 2026 that he qualifies for protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) — an international treaty the United States signed. That ruling should have ended his detention. Instead, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) filed an appeal and kept him locked up.
This matters even more because ICE is violating its own rules. ICE's written policy, established in 2004 and acknowledged by DHS as still in effect, states that when the agency appeals a decision granting CAT protection, it should favor releasing the individual. ICE is not following its own policy.
In December 2025, Nour was quietly moved from a detention facility in Minnesota to the Muscatine County Jail in Iowa — without any notice to his attorneys. That transfer cut him off from his legal team mid-case. His lawyers are now asking a federal court to block any further transfers out of Iowa while the case is pending.
A federal judge has already ordered the government to explain the "true cause and lawful duration" of Nour's confinement. We are calling on ICE and DHS to do what the law, their own policies, and a court ruling already require: release Mutasim Nour immediately, and commit to keeping him in Iowa so he can continue working with his legal team.
Sign this petition to demand his release and to support the court order that would stop any further secret transfers.
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Petition created on June 24, 2026