ICE files detainer against Lebanese illegal immigrant charged with kidnapping Uber passenger in Texas

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has filed a detainer against a 49-year-old illegal immigrant accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a young woman who was his Uber passenger in Texas.

Friendswood police arrested Sameh Mohamad Chami, a Lebanese national, on August 6 after being accused of sexually assaulting a 21-year-old female passenger while riding in his car. According to police, the victim had fallen asleep after leaving a bar and later woke up in the front seat of Chami’s vehicle near a school with her shorts unbuttoned.

The victim’s family tracked her location using an app and found her in an empty parking lot around 3 am before taking her home. The woman told police she recalled Chami having his hand down her pants. Authorities also reported that Chami had ended the ride on the app before reaching her home address, according to FOX 26 Houston.

Chami entered the US in December 2021 on a B-2 tourist visa, which permitted him to stay for six months. He received an extension through December 2022 but did not leave when it expired, remaining in the country illegally for over three years.

“ICE lodged an arrest detainer against Sameh Mohamad Chami—a criminal illegal alien let into our country by Joe Biden. This depraved criminal was charged with aggravated kidnapping after he allegedly sexually assaulted a 21-year-old girl who was a passenger in his Uber car,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a public statement. “President Trump and Secretary Noem unleashed our brave law enforcement to take down these sickos and to protect women from sexual predators.”

The Department of Homeland Security added that, "President Trump and Secretary 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.”