'Green Card Won't Save You': ICE Arrests Trinidad Card Holder

Social media samaritans are coming to the rescue of a Trinidadian native, Trevor James, who was arrested by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers despite being a Green Card holder.

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ICE agents arrested the Caribbbean man at his job in North Carolina, sending him to a detention center in Atlanta, Georgia.

In a statement online, his sister, Solange James, explained he had been working legally in the U.S. under an F1 visa per his LPR (Green Card). He was working with an immigration attorney and was in the process of updating his temporary, 2-year green card when the arrest occurred.

“They are not sim­ply lock­ing up ‘il­le­gals’ and ‘bor­der crossers.’ My broth­er was picked up at his cor­po­rate job. Your Green­ Card will not save you,” she said in the communique.

“We have no idea why ICE has de­tained him and he’s just ex­pect­ed to sit in de­ten­tion in­def­i­nite­ly—sim­ply for be­ing an im­mi­grant,” sister, James, said, adding that because of ICE he missed his appointment with the immigration judge back in North Carolina, which only further complicates his case. 

Trevor has been incarcerated for six weeks and he still has not seen a judge. Four weeks in­to his de­ten­tion, he was told that there was a measles out­break in the fa­cil­i­ty and that he would have to be placed "un­der an ad­di­tion­al 30-day quar­an­tine,” said Solange.

James believes her brother is a victim of U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent immigration crackdown, which was ramped up last Sunday as ICE agents were ordered to target and raid neighborhoods in 10 major cities. Officials have not been forthcoming on her brother’s case.

“If this was a 'regular prison', Trevor and I would know exactly when he could expect to be released. ICE detention is very different. ... There are no answers, no time lines...nothing. It is a black hole. I did include reports on the website that attests to the fact that individuals are detained for months on end. I think a lot of folks truly cannot wrap their minds around the fact that there is a total stripping of rights. What you think you know about the law and due process does NOT apply," articulates Solange over social media.

Funds gathered per the social media campaign, launched via GoFundMe, will go to paying for James' legal costs and a new immigration attorney. So far, US$3,578 has been donated—over half of the family's US$5,000 goal.