Yankton father detained by ICE again, judge halts deportation flight minutes before takeoff
Sep 23, 2026·Location: Yankton, SD
Country of origin: Zimbabwe

Nathan 'Nate' Samudzi, a delivery driver in Yankton, South Dakota, originally from Zimbabwe, was detained by ICE for a second time this year after reporting to the agency's Sioux Falls sub-field office, where he believed he might receive eased monitoring conditions. He was quickly transferred to a detention center and then to Minneapolis for a deportation flight, but a federal judge granted an emergency Temporary Restraining Order about 30 minutes before the flight was scheduled to depart, halting his removal. Samudzi, who holds a valid work permit and had begun the citizenship process, had been under strict GPS monitoring since a prior detention in St. Louis in February; his wife, a local school teacher, said he complied with every condition. ICE says he has been subject to a final removal order since 2006 due to a drug conviction. His legal team filed an emergency habeas corpus petition citing fear of persecution or torture if returned to Zimbabwe, a country he has not lived in since age four, and he is currently held at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Fort Snelling, Minnesota, while friends, family, and South Dakota's congressional delegation seek updates on his case.
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