GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Jilmar Ramos-Gomez is a U.S.citizen, born and raised in Grand Rapids and an ex- Marine who served in Afghanistan. The Kent County Sheriff's Department turned him over to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for deportation.
Ramos-Gomez was arrested for trespassing on the helicopter pad at Spectrum Health back in November.
His family says he suffers from post-traumatic stress. After three weeks in jail, a judge ordered him released on his own recognizance. Instead, the Kent County Sheriff's Department turned Ramos-Gomez over to immigration agents for deportation proceedings.
The government suspected he was an undocumented immigrant and Kent County has a contract to detain immigrants for ICE.
“He is from here,” his mother, Maria Gomez, declared during a press conference Wednesday. “He is a U.S. citizen.”
“Immediately faxed his birth certificate and other documents to ICE,” says family attorney Richard Kessler. “They said, ‘Oh gosh, we don't know what happened. We are going to release him.'"
Ramos-Gomez spent three days in immigration detention before his release.
In a written statement, ICE agents say he described himself as an undocumented immigrant when interviewed at the jail.
Attorneys and others supporting the family say this mistake is another reason why Kent County should end their agreement to detain immigrants for ICE.
“The one good thing we hope can come out of it is that the county and jail will finally realize that it is time to end the contract,” says ACLU attorney Miram Ackerman. “It is time to stop using Kent County resources to facilitate deportation.”
"This is precisely the type of incident we warned would happen," says Immigration Rights Center attorney Hillary Scholten.
"Unfortunately, now it has."
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