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Marine Vet With PTSD Detained by ICE for Three Days: ACLU

A family lawyer had to provide proof of citizenship before Jilmar Ramos-Gomez was released.

A Marine veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder was reportedly held in ICE custody for three days before authorities learned that he was a U.S. citizen born in Michigan. Jilmar Ramos-Gomez, a 27-year-old lance corporal who served in Afghanistan, was released from an ICE detention center in December after personal records provided by his family’s lawyer proved his citizenship, The Detroit Free Press reports. Before being taken into custody by ICE, Ramos-Gomez was held in a different jail after being accused of “trespassing and damaging a fire alarm” at a hospital in November. He was supposed to be released on Dec. 14 to await trial, but ICE reportedly contacted the jail and requested that he be detained for pickup. Ramos-Gomez was then transferred to a detention center 70 miles away and held for days before his release, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan. “Why did they think he was a noncitizen? Did they get him confused with someone else? Who knows,” ACLU attorney Miriam Aukerman said. “This is an individual who's incredibly vulnerable with a mental illness.” Kent County Undersheriff Chuck DeWitt told the newspaper that ICE, like all other federal agencies, had access to fingerprint records.