Gay Jamaican asylum seeker  'suffering' in ICE custody, lawyer says

A gay asylum seeker from Jamaica is fighting to be released from ICE custody after he was detained before his asylum hearing.

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Rickardo Anthony Kelly, 40, was arrested by ICE officers at an immigration courthouse in Manhattan on Monday morning while he was waiting for his prescheduled hearing, accompanied by his attorney. Agents offered him $1,000 to self-deport, and apprehended him when he refused, Kelly said in a writ of habeas corpus petition filed Wednesday and reported by Courthouse News Service.

Kelly said that he came to the U.S. on a tourist visa in 2021 shortly after he was the victim of a violent attack motivated by his sexual orientation, during which he was shot ten times. He warned that deporting him to Jamaica would put him at risk, and that keeping him in custody could cause him to experience “severe and quite possibly fatal” medical complications as a diabetic.

Kelly's asylum attorney, Peter Schuur, said in a declaration of support that Kelly "does not pose any risk of danger or flight" and that he "is a hard-working man whose consistent goal since I began representing him in 2021 has been to remain in New York and be a productive member of society."

Kelly currently works as a security guard in New York City. He was arrested under the Laken Riley Act, which mandates detention without bond for non-citizens charged with or convicted of theft, assault, or other violent crimes. Kelly has a pending third-degree assault charge that he said stems from a domestic dispute which prosecutors have not moved forward with. The case is expected to lapse this month under the Speedy Trial Act, according to Courthouse News Service.

Schuur said that he believes "if Mr. Kelly returns to Jamaica, he faces a grave risk of being killed or severely injured because he is gay." To keep him in ICE custody could also be fatal, as Schurr asserted that he has "learned alarming information about his current conditions of confinement, which further heightens the need for his release."

"Mr. Kelly is currently suffering ongoing and irreparable harm as a result of his unlawful detention — including the deprivation of his constitutional rights, heightened medical risks due to his diabetes, and severe psychological distress connected to both his past trauma and his present confinement," Schurr wrote. "The government’s inability to promptly respond only underscores the rashness of its decision to detain Mr. Kelly in the first place, without adequate consideration or justification. At a minimum, any extension should be conditioned on his immediate release."

The government has been given until Saturday to show just cause for detaining Kelly. Prosecutors have filed a petition asking Judge John P. Cronan to extend the deadline until Wednesday.