An ICE detainee with a severe skin disease has posted bond and was released Jan. 15 from a federal holding facility at Fort Snelling, where he dealt with malnourishment and wounds caused by the restraints on his legs, his brother said.
Hani Duglof, 32, may eventually be deported to his native Libya, pending a decision on his asylum request that has dragged on for nearly a decade. But avoiding further detention is a small victory for the Woodbury resident because he has a rare condition known as epidermolysis bullosa (EB) that puts him at risk for severe skin trauma from even mild physical contact, his brother said.
“Hopefully he doesn’t have to be afraid anymore,” said the brother, Mohamed Duklef, who also has EB and traveled with Duglof in 2014 to Minnesota to be screened for a bone marrow transplant. “Now we need to work on his asylum.”
Duglof, who entered the country legally on a visa, was the subject of a targeted enforcement action on Saturday when agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) stopped his vehicle. He was transferred to M Health Fairview Southdale Hospital after agents at the detention facility realized that his medical needs were beyond their capability.
Relatives thought he remained hospitalized until midweek, but learned upon his release that he had been discharged on Monday and returned to federal detention, his brother said. He had been shackled during his hospitalization, irritating his legs, and confinement in the rough surfaces of the detention center worsened his wounds, his brother said. Duglof’s throat has suffered so much damage as a result of his disease that he needs a special diet, but he continued in detention for three days to receive food that he couldn’t swallow.
“We are furious” both at ICE agents who overlooked his medical needs and at the hospital for discharging him earlier than the family was told, his brother said.
Spokespeople for Fairview and the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
Duglof applied for asylum due to civil war in Libya while Duklef became a U.S. citizen through marriage. Duglof earned two college degrees and works in IT at a Twin Cities health system. St. Paul College, where he got an associate degree, has featured Duglof’s face on marketing banners on campus along with the slogan, “Fit in. Stand out.”
