FRIENDSWOOD, Texas — A Lebanese national who overstayed his visa is facing serious criminal charges after allegedly kidnapping and sexually assaulting a young woman in his Uber vehicle. On August 6, Sameh Mohamad Chami, 49, was arrested by the Friendswood Police Department and is now the subject of an ICE arrest detainer.
According to police reports, a 21-year-old woman hired an Uber after a night out at a Galveston saloon. She reportedly fell asleep in the backseat of Chami’s car but awoke hours later in the front seat, parked in a school lot, with her shorts unbuttoned. She alleged Chami had placed his hands down her pants.
Her family, tracking her phone location, found her in an empty parking lot around 3 a.m. Chami allegedly ended the ride prematurely in the app, preventing any further tracking.
According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Chami legally entered the U.S. on December 2, 2021, under a B-2 tourist visa, granted for six months. Though he applied for and received an extension until December 1, 2022, he failed to leave the country and remained in the U.S. illegally for over three years.
Following his arrest, ICE issued a detainer to ensure Chami is transferred into immigration custody rather than released into the community.
In a statement to Fox News, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin criticized the Biden administration’s handling of immigration and said Chami represents a “criminal illegal alien let into our country.”
“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,” McLaughlin stated. “President Trump and Secretary Noem are committed to restoring integrity to the visa program.”
Chami is currently facing charges of aggravated kidnapping, and the investigation is ongoing.
