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The Nigerian restaurateur who was detained by federal immigration agents in June is free.
Paul Dama, 46, walked out of the Burlington U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center on Thursday shortly before 10 p.m. He was granted asylum earlier this week after more than three months in ICE custody.
A video shared with GBH News shows Dama and his sister Cecelia Lizotte walking away from the facility together, smiling.
“I feel so excited. I feel very joyful. I wasn’t even expecting to have left yesterday,” Dama told GBH News in an exclusive interview Friday morning.
Dama said, around 7 p.m. on Thursday, correctional officers called out his name and told him to pack his things.
“The place just erupted with claps and shouts of joy,” he said. He was put in restraints around his legs, hands and waist — which he said made him confused about whether he was really being released. Then he was brought back to Massachusetts from the New Hampshire ICE facility where he’s been held for the last few months.
There, he got to call his family.
“When I called Cecelia, she just started screaming and shouting on the phone. And of course, she got ready and came right away to grab me. We got back home like about 11 p.m. last night,” he said. “I haven’t slept much!”
Judge Yul-Mi Cho granted Dama asylum due to his fears of being recaptured by terrorist group Boko Haram if he were to return to Nigeria. Dama was kidnapped by the group in 2018 and held for ransom during his work as a journalist. He fled the country after his release and has lived in the United States, working at renowned eatery Suya Joint and as a home care worker since.
Dama is married to a U.S. citizen and was beginning the process of applying for a green card. He had his asylum application pending when he was detained by ICE in June.
U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley represents District 7, which includes Suya Joint. She celebrated his release in a statement Friday.
“Paul’s abduction left behind a painful void in the Massachusetts 7th. He meant so much to so many in our community,” she wrote in a statement. “For nearly three months, we’ve advocated for his release—leading numerous oversight inquiries to ICE and working with Paul’s sister, legal counsel, and community writ-large to demand his return home. Paul’s release today is a powerful reminder of what is possible when our community comes together, rallies behind a beloved neighbor, and stands firm in the face of Trump and ICE’s shameful reign of terror.”
Federal immigration authorities told GBH News on Thursday that they arrested Dama because he had been living in the country illegally since his visitor visa expired in 2019 and had two OUI convictions from 2024.
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called Dama a “public safety threat” in a statement to GBH News on Thursday. She said “President [Donald] Trump and Secretary [Kristi] Noem are committed to restoring integrity to the visa program and ensuring it is not abused to allow aliens a permanent one-way ticket to remain in the U.S.”
In the asylum hearing this week, Dama and his attorney walked through how he got the OUIs. He said he started drinking after his mother’s death, when he was unable to leave the United States to attend her funeral in Nigeria. He and his attorney told the judge that, when he was arrested for operating a vehicle under the influence, he had already pulled over the car and fallen asleep.
“When I realized I couldn’t safely drive, I pulled over and just slept off in my car, hoping that by the time I wake up I would be able to at least drive myself home. I didn’t want to put my life and other people’s lives at risk,” he said, adding that’s how police found him. After, he decided to go to therapy, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and comply with a one-year probation period.
When Dama was initially denied bond in July, he told GBH News he considered voluntarily departing the country like many other detainees were doing.
“I saw a lot of people do that when people who lost their bond, who were not approved for their bonds, just come back and just sign up for voluntary departure because at that point you feel like, well, all hope is lost,” he said.
But Dama’s family and colleagues convinced him to wait.
“I gained all the strength and even the confidence to go before the judge knowing that I had that kind of support from the community,” he said. “Without it, I don’t think I would be here right now.”
Dama said going back to Nigeria would have been a “death sentence.”
He plans on taking short time off to recuperate and then go back to work when he has his work authorization documents returned, he said.
“I hope to see my therapist, as well, as soon as possible so we can get back on my therapy sessions,” he said. “It was a difficult time for me at the jail. I kind of used some of the coping techniques and tools that she gave me.”
Since his release, next steps are unclear. Dama says he is unsure if his deportation case will continue. ICE has not responded to GBH News’ questions about Dama’s potential removal since his asylum was granted this week.
