Columbia man sends message to supporters as he awaits deportation
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A Columbia green card holder who has been ordered deported from the United States, with a lifetime ban to keep him from reentering the country, says the outcome of his immigration case was predetermined.
"I just want to thank everyone for all the love and support my family and I have gotten these last few months," a social post attributed to Owen Ramsingh states. "This has been one of the hardest moments of my life as I sit here in this prison waiting on a flight back to the Netherlands."
Ramsingh's friend, Robert Olson, posted the message Wednesday on the "Bring Owen Home" Facebook page, where Ramsingh's friends and family post updates about his case.
Ramsingh's family wrote in a social media update earlier this week that Ramsingh went in front of an immigration judge in New Mexico on Monday. The judge ordered Ramsingh deported with a lifetime ban from the United States, the post states.
Ramsingh could try for a waiver to lift the ban in eight to 10 years, the post states.
In Olson's post, Ramsingh said he believes the judge already decided his fate.
"There was nothing me or my attorney could have done to change the verdict that was already decided before I even stepped inside," Ramsingh said. "Judge Brock Taylor decided I do not belong in this country anymore and ordered that I be deported in the next couple of weeks for a mistake I made back in 1996 when I was just a kid."
Ramsingh has lived in the U.S. since moving here as a child from the Netherlands 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 less than an ounce of marijuana in Nebraska and fined $100.
Ramsingh's family wrote that they expect him to be back in the Netherlands.
"I do have my father in the Netherlands and I am thankful for him, but it is almost impossible to imagine not having my Columbia family by my side for the rest of my life. That hurts more than anything," Ramsingh wrote.
State Rep. David Tyson Smith (D-Columbia) told ABC 17 News that he feels for the Ramsingh family.
“President Trump’s reckless deportation policies have not only destabilized a local family but our community as well," Tyson Smith wrote in a statement. "My heart goes out to Owen’s family and friends. The citizens need to hold our federal elected officials accountable for this travesty,"
