Friends, family of Columbia man detained by ICE ‘cautiously hopeful’ after court hearing
Mitchell Kaminski
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A Columbia man detained by ICE in September after returning from a trip to Europe had his first court hearing on Thursday.
Owen Ramsingh — who has had a green card since the 1980s, according to his family — had a court date set for Thursday, Nov. 6 after being detained at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport upon his return from visiting family in the Netherlands. He is being held at a facility in El Paso, Texas.
In an update posted on Facebook, a family friend wrote Ramsingh’s attorneys met with the judge, who requested a few specific documents not originally anticipated in the case.
Samantha Gage Bryan — who is an administrator of the Facebook group made in support of Ramsingh — wrote the legal team is confident it can provide the requested materials. If submitted, the judge has indicated he may “terminate the removal proceedings,” which would allow Ramsingh to begin the process of returning to Columbia.
“While we don’t have a final answer yet, this is a very encouraging development,” the social media post reads. However, the post says ICE still has up to 30 days to appeal, so the outcome isn’t settled.
As of now, family and supporters remain cautiously optimistic. They continue to raise legal-fund support and awareness of Ramsingh’s case.
Ramsingh was originally given a court date of Oct. 15, but the family claims attorneys later told them that date was a “gingerbread date.” His family told ABC 17 News in late October that he was not eligible to ask for a bond hearing because he was labeled as an “arriving alien” when the Department of Homeland Security filed his paperwork.
Ramsingh has lived in the U.S. since moving here as a child and was initially issued a green card as a child of a U.S. Citizen in 1986, which has since been renewed. According to a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, he was detained because of past convictions for possession of marijuana and cocaine.
Court records obtained by ABC 17 News show Ramsingh was charged with drug possession in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1998 when he was 17. He pleaded guilty the next year to attempting to commit a felony. The following year, records show he was cited for having fewer than an ounce of marijuana in Nebraska and fined $100.
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