A judge temporarily halted the removal of longtime South Dakota resident Nate Samudzi on Thursday, stopping immigration authorities from transferring him out of Minnesota while a federal court considers his case.
Samudzi, 30, was born in Zimbabwe but has lived in the United States since he was four years old. He grew up in Vermillion and now lives in Yankton with his wife, Sydney, and their one year old daughter. He works as a UPS package delivery driver.
ICE told KTIV that Samudzi has been subject to a “final order of removal since 2006” and said he has a conviction for “drug possession and distribution.” ICE also confirmed that his federal habeas case is pending and said the agency would comply with applicable court orders.
At the same time, Samudzi’s immigration attorney, Heidi Oligmueller, told KELOLAND that an immigration judge granted Samudzi withholding of removal in 2006.
His attorney told KELOLAND that ICE intended to remove Samudzi to Burundi, despite Samudzi having no ties to the East African nation.
The precise nature of Samudzi’s 2006 protection, including which country the immigration judge barred his removal to, remains an important detail that Intellectual Dissatisfaction has asked his legal team to clarify.
Court intervenes as removal approaches
Samudzi’s attorneys filed an emergency habeas corpus petition in federal court Sept. 23 in Samudzi v. Mullin, Case No. 0:26-cv-04115, in the U.S. District Court for Minnesota.
At 8:02 a.m. Thursday, U.S. District Judge Jerry W. Blackwell ordered federal officials not to remove, transfer or facilitate Samudzi’s removal from the District of Minnesota while the case remains pending. Blackwell further ordered that if Samudzi had already been removed from the district, the government was required to return him.
The case remains active, and the court said a briefing schedule would follow. As of Friday morning, Intellectual Dissatisfaction found no newer public docket order resolving the underlying habeas petition. The feds must respond to the petition by September 30.
Samudzi’s family told KTIV that he had been scheduled for a 9 a.m. removal flight from Minneapolis Thursday morning.
The legal dispute is unfolding against a rapidly changing landscape surrounding so-called third-country removals.
On Sept. 18, the First Circuit Court of Appeals largely upheld a federal ruling requiring DHS to provide people covered by the case with effective notice of a proposed third-country destination and a meaningful opportunity to raise a fear of persecution or torture before being removed there.
Whether Samudzi falls within that protected class and exactly how that ruling applies to his case have not yet been established publicly.
ICE and family accounts differ on criminal history
ICE’s newly released statement also introduces a point that needs further documentation.
The agency described Samudzi as having a conviction for drug possession and distribution.
Earlier accounts from his family described a 2014 misdemeanor, while Oligmueller told KELOLAND that a misdemeanor generally should not eliminate the withholding protection Samudzi received.
Intellectual Dissatisfaction has not yet been able to independently obtain the underlying criminal court records necessary to reconcile those descriptions.
Following a previous ICE detention in February, Samudzi was released after six days. His wife told KTIV that he was subsequently placed under extensive supervision, including GPS phone monitoring, weekly photo check-ins, unannounced home visits, restrictions on leaving South Dakota and in-person reporting in Sioux Falls every eight weeks. She said he complied with those requirements.
The family says Samudzi went to the Sioux Falls immigration office this week after being contacted about a “change in program” and was taken into custody there.
‘Part of the town, part of the community’
For people who knew Samudzi long before his immigration case became public, his roots in South Dakota stretch back decades.
Lucas Iverson grew up with Samudzi in Vermillion.
“Nate always stood by my side, no matter what I had going on,” Lucas told Intellectual Dissatisfaction.
His mother, Monica Iverson, co-owner of Café Brulé in Vermillion, employed Samudzi for several years while he was growing up.
“He was a fantastic employee. He always showed up on time and never called in, even as a high schooler,” Iverson said.
She remembers Samudzi eventually becoming a chef and said she tried helping him find a path toward college, but his immigration status complicated his ability to secure financing.
To Iverson, however, Samudzi was never an outsider to the community.
“He came to the pool with us, the kids played together, and he went to all the sports functions,” she said. “He was part of the group, part of the town, part of the community.”
That relationship continued into adulthood.
“I made their wedding cake,” Iverson said. “I made the cake for their daughter’s first birthday.”
Samudzi eventually settled in Yankton and became a familiar face through his UPS route. Iverson said employees at a local Ace Hardware recently began asking about him after noticing he was no longer making deliveries.
“He’s just done so much for other people,” Iverson said. “He’d give you the shirt off his back.”
For now, the federal order keeps Samudzi in Minnesota while the court considers his case.
This is a developing story and will be updated as additional court filings and responses become available.
