CUSTODY BATTLE

Relatives of 65-year-old US Army veteran Godfrey Wade are fighting desperately to stop his deportation to Jamaica as he remains detained in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Georgia.

More than 70 days have passed since a routine traffic stop spiralled into his arrest, leaving the elderly veteran behind bars and his family consumed with worry.

Wade reportedly migrated to the United States from Jamaica in 1975 at age 15, arriving with his mother on a green card.

Over the past five decades, he built a life deeply intertwined with American society. He raised six children – helping each pursue higher education – and has been a present figure in the lives of his grandchildren. His daughter Christian describes him as a devoted father and grandfather who spent weekends playing tennis with family and encouraging his children and grandchildren to use the sport as a tool for empowerment.

He served in several US Army deployments to four continents over his eight-year career – the majority of which saw him being stationed in Germany. He worked as a logistics specialist in the sniper/sharpshooter brigade. His service earned him a wartime veteran medal, an overseas service medal, and a US army commendation medal, among others. He also has several degrees, including in engineering.

After receiving an honourable discharge in 1992, Wade explored a wide range of careers. He worked as a chef, an artist, and a fashion designer, and became an important figure in Georgia’s tennis community. Christian said her father helped her view tennis as a pathway to discipline and personal growth, a lesson she now passes on to her own children.

But everything changed after an ill-fated traffic stop one Saturday, explained his daughter Christian and fiancée, April, who drove three hours to and from to see him for a one-hour visit yesterday.

It was the second visit this month, coming at a considerable cost, which – along with the cost of calls, supplies for their hypertensive loved one, and other supplies – has forced the family to set up a GoFundMe to manage the growing financial burden.

Wade said he fears deportation but explained why he never pursued US citizenship. Despite his military service, several awards, and decades-long residence, he said becoming a citizen was never a priority. It is still not his main focus, he asserted.

“After doing dirt for the United States government, it does not sit well with my conscience,” he said.

Things he witnessed during his service, he simply “cannot talk about them”, Wade noted, adding that he wants to remain in the country in order to maintain his relationship with his various professional communities, family, and friends.

Despite all of that, “it is still a “great nation”, he said, although outlining his struggles at the facility with overcrowding, which he claims has a general disregard for human rights.

“It’s just one day at a time, man. There has been a lot of prayer, reading the Bible, and I’ve been doing a lot of portraits and reading self-help books,” he told The Gleaner via telephone.

“There are also a lot of intimidation and coercion factors. They really try to intimidate you when you are here,” he charged. “Half the time it is about how they are going to separate you from your family, and it is just the worst of principles, knowing that you have not done anything and they don’t take account of all the civic things that you have done.

“They simply treat you as a criminal, and as a paraded military man, I think this is an atrocity to democracy,” Wade said, noting that access to libraries, particularly one with legal material relevant to his case, is largely restricted.

“Even though they have a law library and the regular library, it is not the easiest thing to get into. It will take you days to get access to the libraries,” he lamented, noting that despite having relatives in Kingston, he fears leaving his grandchildren.

They have already begun to ask why he is not around, said Christian.

Wade’s situation unfolds amid a broader national crackdown. Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, immigration arrests have surged across major US cities. In January, Jamaica accepted 56 deportees from a group of approximately 2,500 slated for removal. Wade’s family has retained an attorney to fight his case, but the path forward remains uncertain.

“My oldest daughter is six, and she asks to come with us to visit him. But I don’t want to take her because I want to maintain the image of him that she has in her head; I don’t want her to see him behind any bars,” Christian said, her voice sombre as she outlined her children’s innocence of the situation.

“It’s been hard. Almost every weekend was spent with my dad. We typically play tennis together. My girls would come along. We lived 15 minutes away from him. We are very close. None of us get to talk to him often, and to talk to him it costs money. It’s been trying to know that my dad has been locked up in inhumane circumstances, and every day, it’s just a lot to deal with,” said Christian.

April said his absence has been very difficult emotionally and financially.

“Being down to one income is a lot, and travelling to see him takes a day for a one-hour visit. He is able to call when he has access to a phone, but there are seven phones for 80 people, and the 12 tablets for 80 people does not work. The detention centre is overcrowded, so people have to sleep on the floor, and he said not all of the toilets are working. So it has just been a very difficult time for all of us,” she said.

corey.robinson@gleanerjm.com