A Somali immigrant convicted in Maine for falsifying his citizenship application is now facing new charges, this time in Vermont.
Taxi driver Hussien Noor Hussien, 63, was cuffed as he got out of his cab at the Patrick Leahy Airport in Burlington, Vermont.
Hussien, who first came to the U.S. in 2004, has lived in Vermont for 13 years, running his own company, Freedom Cab.
After coming to the U.S. as a refugee in 2004, he lived in Lewiston, eventually settling in Burlington.
This is the second time Hussien has been detained by ICE.
Court records show he came to the U.S. as a refugee under the name of a relative, Abukar Hassan Abdule.
In 2011, Hussien became a naturalized citizen under that name – Abukar Hassan Abdule – while living in Maine.
After moving in 2013 to Burlington, he applied to legally change his name to his birth name, Hussien Noor Hussien.
But four years later, immigration authorities noticed what they believed were inconsistencies with his claimed identity.
Hussien was then convicted in 2019 in U.S. District of Maine of three federal crimes, including making a false statement on a passport application, impersonating another in his naturalization proceeding and illegally procuring naturalization.
His citizenship was revoked, downgrading his immigration status to permanent residency, or a green card.
Hussien was sentenced to two months in prison, and, when he was released in 2020, ICE immediately took him into custody and began deportation proceedings against him.
A few months later, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and Hussien and other prisoners were released on one condition: they regularly check in with immigration authorities as their cases wound through the court system.
He has filed a habeas corpus petition in federal court, asking a judge to review the legality of his detention.
Hussien is due for a February 4 hearing at U.S. District Court in Burlington. His Instagram “support team” has scheduled a courthouse rally in his behalf.
