ICE Detains U.S. Citizen for Ten Months
A review of court records and medical reports indicates authorities mistook a mentally ill man from Florida for a Jamaican national.
By Andrew Kovalenko ·
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has held a mentally ill man for nearly ten months, despite evidence suggesting he is a U.S. citizen. The detainee, Phillip James, has been locked in a federal facility in Indiana since January. His legal team and mother state he was born in Florida in 1987, a fact supported by a birth certificate and a 1988 paternity court document. Immigration officials, however, rely on James' own assertion that he was born in Jamaica.
The detention occurred during a period of accelerated deportations under the Trump administration. James suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, a diagnosis confirmed by medical experts. His condition includes delusions that he is the illegitimate son of a former Jamaican prime minister. One psychologist noted that James is not a reliable historian due to his deeply entrenched delusional belief system. He also claims citizenship in Lebanon, though he has provided little evidence to support that claim.
James originally held a U.S. passport for 15 years. He received it in 2008 after submitting his Florida birth certificate. In 2023, he successfully changed his name and obtained a new passport. Beginning in 2024, he filed applications for citizenship and protection from deportation. In these filings, he claimed to be a Jamaican national and adopted child of U.S. citizens. The government revoked his passport, labeling the original birth certificate as fraudulent without providing specific proof. The Department of Homeland Security disputes his citizenship status.
Immigration lawyers describe the length of his detention as rare. Jacqueline Stevens, a professor at Northwestern University, said the case reflects a pattern in how ICE handles citizenship claims. She stated that evidence supporting deportation is treated as accurate, while contradictory evidence is often dismissed. The Department of Homeland Security denies detaining U.S. citizens and argues that detainees receive due process. A volunteer from the nonprofit Habeas Dockets had to visit an Indiana courthouse to copy James' records because they were not available in the federal online database.
ICE initiated removal proceedings in December 2025 while James lived in New York City. Agents arrested him on January 5 after a judge postponed his immigration hearing. He was sent to the Miami Detention Center in Bunker Hill, Indiana. The facility, known as the Speedway Slammer, houses up to 1,000 ICE detainees. The state receives $291 per detainee per day for the arrangement, a rate that is over three times the median bed cost for ICE. The facility has faced complaints regarding overcrowding and medical neglect.
James initially represented himself in court, repeating his claims of Jamaican and Lebanese origins. An immigration judge ordered his removal to Jamaica in April. The Bronx Defenders, a nonprofit legal aid organization, took over his case after discovering his mother in Florida. They filed a petition in federal court on August 19 to secure his release. They are also appealing the removal order to the Board of Immigration Appeals. The government has not acknowledged any error in the process. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Irvin filed a document in September describing James as a native of Jamaica who entered the United States without admission.
U.S. District Judge Damon Leichty is expected to rule on the petition for James' release soon. Former ICE chief of staff Deborah Fleischaker said the evidence supporting James' citizenship appears strong. She expressed concern that James remains in the deportation system because of the agency's focus on processing large numbers of cases. Jamaican authorities have told James' lawyers they have no record of his birth or citizenship, which complicates potential removal efforts.
