Lawsuit Seeks Freedom for Man Facing Indefinite Detention in ICE Custody

LINCOLN, Neb. – A man who cannot return to his home country is suing to seek his freedom after months in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Semere Gherezgiher is being held in the immigrant detention center in McCook, Nebraska. He was transferred there from Minnesota late last year.

In a lawsuit filed on his behalf today by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Nebraska, Gherezgiher argues that his individual circumstances and the government's handling of his case have effectively subjected him to indefinite detention, violating his right to due process and U.S. Supreme Court precedent that limits how long someone may be detained following an order of removal.

In 2016, Gherezgiher fled Eritrea, an East African country with well-documented human rights abuses. Multiple family members had been conscripted into the country’s mandatory military service, which Amnesty International has described as indefinite and unpaid forced labor that is akin to slavery. After six years of travel between numerous countries, he arrived in Southern California.

Shortly after Gherezgiher’s arrival in the U.S., an immigration court judge ordered his removal while also specifying that he cannot be returned to Eritrea under the United Nations Convention Against Torture. At the time of the order, the court did not order his detention. Gherezgiher moved to Minnesota. ICE took him into custody in May of 2025. Immigration authorities attempted to deport him to Germany but failed to secure necessary documentation. Gherezgiher now lives in a kind of limbo with no end in sight for his ongoing detention and no clear path to a timely release or removal to yet another country.

Today's filing raises a 2001 Supreme Court case, Zadvydas v. Davis, which held that immigration officials may not detain immigrants for more than six months after they are ordered removed unless there is a significant likelihood of removing them in the reasonably foreseeable future. Gherezgiher’s lawsuit seeks a court order securing his release so that he can determine next steps as a man without a country while in the community instead of in custody.

Asked what he wanted to share with the public, Gherezgiher offered just five words:

“I want to be free.”

ACLU of Nebraska Staff Attorney Grant Friedman said:

“It is well established that the federal government does not have the power to detain immigrants indefinitely, but that is exactly what is happening to our client. In his case, the government has been unable to remove him thus far, and there is no evidence that the government will be positioned to remove him in the near future. His ongoing detention is unlawful and benefits no one. We will see ICE in court.”

Last week, the ACLU of Nebraska filed a lawsuit on behalf of another man in the same detention facility, Carlos Chang. Chang’s lawsuit focuses on his denied bond hearing under ICE’s mandatory detention policy. A hearing in that case has not yet been scheduled.

Last year, ACLU of Nebraska lawsuits prompted the release of three women who were separated from their families after an ICE workplace raid in Omaha. Advocacy efforts led to the release of a fourth client, a man with two young children at home.