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Roble Ahmed Salad remains jailed in Alaska due to a bureaucratic error, as ICE continues costly efforts despite Somalia being too dangerous for deportation.
The U.S. government has spent thousands of dollars in a determined effort to deport a Somali asylum seeker from Alaska despite Somalia being on the list of countries deemed too dangerous for forced removals.
Roble Ahmed Salad, 27, has never been convicted of a crime in the U.S. or his home country. Yet, he sits behind bars in an Anchorage jail, caught in an immigration dragnet that critics say is more about political posturing than law enforcement.
His case, fought over in federal court, offers a rare window into how ICE operates in Alaska, far from the public scrutiny that follows high-profile immigration raids in cities like New York or Los Angeles.
Salad crossed into the U.S. from Mexico in December 2022, seeking asylum. Initially, his claim was deemed credible, but he later faced an asylum hearing without legal representation. His bid was denied, as was his appeal. By May 2023, a deportation order was issued—but it was an order ICE could not enforce.
Somalia remains one of the most volatile nations on Earth, its regions controlled by a fledgling government and a patchwork of militant groups. The U.S. has long recognized that forcibly returning individuals to such conditions is untenable.
Faced with this legal reality, ICE released Salad in November 2023 under an “order of supervision,” which essentially acknowledged his removal was impossible in the foreseeable future. He was allowed to work, required to check in with immigration authorities, and moved to Anchorage, where he took a job as a caretaker at an assisted living facility.
Then, the bureaucracy caught up with him.
In December 2024, Salad flew back to Texas—draining his own savings—to fulfill a scheduled check-in with immigration authorities. However, ICE, citing an internal paperwork error, failed to register his compliance. When officers later discovered he had relocated to Anchorage, he was labelled an “immigration fugitive.”
His lawyers reject the accusation outright.
“Fugitives do not spend their savings flying 4,000 miles to report in as directed,” wrote attorney Margaret Stock in a court filing.
Salad’s case is one of five ICE detentions in Alaska this year, part of a broader immigration crackdown under President Donald Trump. Of those detained, only one had a criminal record—a 15-year-old misdemeanour for applying for a driver’s license without legal status.
Yet, ICE has invested significant resources into Salad’s case.
“So far, ICE has purchased three airline tickets to fly two ICE officers plus Mr. Salad from Anchorage to Texas,” Stock’s filing states. “Then ICE had to purchase three airline tickets to fly them all back. And ICE is continuing to incur detention expenses.”
Each detainee costs the federal government $212 daily to hold in Alaska’s correctional system. Salad, who is accused of no crime, is shackled, dressed in a prison uniform, and housed alongside convicted felons.
“This is an expensive mess,” Stock added, noting that ICE’s determination to detain Salad is increasingly detached from legal and financial logic.
As his legal battle unfolds, Salad has applied for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a designation that allows individuals from war-torn or disaster-stricken countries to remain in the U.S. Somalia remains eligible for TPS through at least 2026.
But the Trump administration has been aggressively reducing the number of TPS-eligible countries. Just last month, Venezuelans were removed from the list, a move now facing legal challenges. Haiti followed soon after.
Despite his TPS application, ICE agents arrested Salad in Anchorage on Feb. 5. He was flown to Texas, detained, and then flown back to Alaska within days as legal proceedings continued.
Texas-based immigration attorney Teresa Coles-Davila, who is familiar with the case, believes the government refuses to back down.
“It sounds like ICE is digging in their heels,” she said. “They’re doing everything they can for the optics because now they’ve invested so much time and money in it.”
A federal court held an evidentiary hearing Wednesday, but a ruling on Salad’s detention is still pending. For now, he remains in the Anchorage jail, waiting for a decision that could determine his future—or whether the government will continue to spend taxpayer dollars chasing a deportation it cannot legally enforce.