A Michigan nurse says she didn’t believe in ICE ‘separating people from their families,’ and is accused of helping a detainee flee a hospital

A Michigan nurse faces a federal misdemeanor charge for allegedly helping a man walk out of a hospital in Ann Arbor after an immigration arrest, according to The Guardian. A criminal complaint from an FBI special agent accuses Chloe Renae Freeman of instigating or assisting an escape. The man appears in the court record only under the initials “OBP.”

The complaint says Border Patrol agents conducted a “targeted immigration enforcement operation” in Ann Arbor, and approached him around 9 p.m. on May 28. He ran, tripped on a curb and fell, and his face struck the pavement, the document states. Emergency medical workers took him to Trinity Health Ann Arbor, where Freeman was a registered nurse. The complaint also says he had been removed from the country in December 2022.

Badge data cited in the complaint shows Freeman swiped into the CT room at 11:31 p.m. Security video shows the man exiting by way of the ambulance bay about a minute later. A nurse who checked him in observed ICE agents accompanying him into the hospital, the complaint says. Law enforcement has been unable to locate him since, it adds.

Complaint says Freeman admitted letting him leave the hospital

Freeman was interviewed by hospital investigators, and the complaint states she admitted letting the man leave. It says she told them she removed his IV and escorted him out. She also said she disagreed with ICE “separating people from their families” and knew she “was going to set him free.” The document adds that she acknowledged he “could have died” because of his injuries.

The complaint also says Freeman claimed she did not consider the man to be in custody, because the ICE agents were not physically with him in the CT room. It adds that she escorted him out before his hospital care was complete and before he was properly discharged. The FBI agent wrote that there is probable cause to believe she “knowingly and willfully” assisted the escape.

Freeman surrendered voluntarily and made her first federal court appearance Tuesday, Sept. 29, the outlet reported. Her $10,000 bond was unsecured, and she was released afterward. A preliminary examination is scheduled for Oct. 20. She has not been convicted of any crime.

Trinity Health said in a statement that Freeman no longer works at the hospital. “Because this is an active legal matter, we are unable to comment on the specific allegations or ongoing court proceedings,” the hospital said.

Freeman’s attorneys told the outlet they were not issuing statements for now. The prosecuting U.S. attorney’s office in Michigan’s eastern district had not replied to an inquiry when the report ran. The Department of Homeland Security sent its questions on to the Justice Department, according to the report.

The complaint cites 18 U.S.C. § 752(a), which covers anyone who “instigates, aids or assists the escape” of a person arrested under federal law or held in custody. The maximum penalty is one year in prison, a fine or both when the custody is for expulsion proceedings under the immigration laws. The same cap applies to a misdemeanor arrest before conviction. A felony arrest or any conviction raises the maximum to five years.