Georgia Army veteran deported by ICE after 50 years in U.S.

“This doesn’t end our fight,” said Tony Kozycki, Wade’s immigration attorney.

According to Kozycki, an appeal filed with a Department of Justice appellate court can still move forward despite Wade now being in his homeland of Jamaica, but the deportation is likely to slow that process considerably.

“We’re looking at potentially several years before he can come back,” Kozycki said.

Wade entered the U.S. in 1975 with his mother. He served on active duty in the U.S. Army from 1983 to 1987, having been deployed to Germany in support of NATO operations during the Cold War.

Wade’s most recent job before being arrested by ICE was at the Georgia Capitol, where he served food to lawmakers.

Two events in the early 2000s jeopardized his longtime legal status in the country.

According to his attorney, one involved a bounced check written to a tag office to renew a vehicle registration — a debt that was later repaid.

The second centered on a domestic argument during a divorce, which included allegations of damaged household items but no physical contact or violence, his attorney said. Wade accepted a plea deal for simple assault in that case, according to Kozycki.

Kozycki also said the two cases on Wade’s record were deemed “crimes involving moral turpitude” by the federal government, which revoked his green card.

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that an immigration judge ordered Wade deported in 2014 because he did not show up to a court date. But Kozycki and Wade’s family say he never received notice of the hearing, with immigration court records showing that multiple hearing notices were mailed to the wrong address and were returned as undeliverable.

Since then, Wade, who has six U.S. citizen children, was not deemed a priority for removal.

But following a traffic stop in September, Wade was handed over by local police to ICE. He spent the bulk of the next six months at the Stewart Detention Center.

“All we want is for him to be able to go in front of a judge, for our lawyers to advocate for him. That is solely what we’re looking for … for him to have his day in court,” Wade’s daughter, Christian, said.

“People make mistakes,” Christian Wade added, in reference to her father’s criminal record. “I really want people to know that mistakes don’t define who people are. These things don’t define the man he is today.”

In addition to the appeals process, Kozycki has been approaching federal lawmakers to intercede on Wade’s behalf with immigration authorities.

Credit: Jenni Girtman

Credit: Jenni Girtman

On Feb. 5, Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and acting ICE Director Todd Lyons requesting the department “give due and fair consideration to using its broad discretionary authority to ensure that Mr. Wade, who served this country honorably in uniform, is afforded a day in court.”

In her statement, McLaughlin, the DHS spokesperson, described Wade as a “repeat offender” who received full due process.

“He will no longer be able to terrorize Americans,” she added.

For Kozycki, the detention and deportation of Wade, despite his military service and decades-long ties to the U.S. and Georgia, reflect the Trump administration’s priority of achieving mass deportations.

“They’re just scooping everybody up all at once,” he said.