As the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration continues to ensnare some U.S. military veterans, one case in Georgia is grabbing headlines.
Godfrey Wade, an Army veteran who has lived in the country for 52 years, has spent the past three months in the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia. Wade emigrated to the U.S. as a young teenager and joined the Army a few years later.
He was taken into custody by ICE in September after police stopped his car for failure to use a turn signal. The veteran was found not to have a current driver’s license, and police discovered he was not a properly documented citizen.
The footage of Wade being taken into custody was captured on his fiancée, April Watkins’s, phone.
“He wasn’t born in this country, and still, he loves this country enough that he signed up to serve it,” Watkins told 11Alive News in Atlanta. “Fifty years later, when he needs this country, this country is turning its back on him.”
Tried to Become a Citizen
In the mid-1970s, Wade signed up for the Army and was assigned to the 7th Infantry Division. Stationed in Aschaffenburg, Germany, he earned both good conduct and wartime service medals.
Wade left the Army, obtained multiple degrees, and enjoyed a varied career as a fashion designer, master tailor, tennis coach and chef. He was preparing food at the Georgia Capitol Café at the time of his arrest.
Both Wade and his fiancée said they were working on getting legal citizenship before he was detained.
“We had an attorney, but it’s a very expensive endeavor; the cost is astronomical,” Watkins said. “Still, he did make the effort. We did a lot of things to make sure this day would not come, and yet here we are.”
Sharing his story from the detention center by phone, Wade never believed that one day he could be deported.
“For 52 years I’ve lived in this country and raised my children, worked hard, paid my taxes,” he said. “A lot of the processes of immigration I didn’t know about. I’m learning more while I’m in here.”
Detention Conditions Poor
After he came to the detention center, Wade, 65, said he slept on a makeshift bed on the floor for almost two weeks due to overcrowding.
“We don’t have any bunk space,” he said. “We’re given what we call boats, and those are placed on the floor with a two-inch mat.”
Rudimentary bedding hasn’t even been the worst part. Wade said the facility has two working urinals for 80 detainees. The veteran also must dodge flowing sewage water on the ground as he gets in line to urinate.
In reporting this story, 11Alive said it obtained records from the Office of Detention Oversight (ODO), which listed 12 deficiencies at the detention center at the agency’s last inspection. The center’s black marks include health and safety issues, phone access, food service, use of force and others.
Agency requirements also state all detention facilities should have a 12-to-1 detainee-to-toilet ratio, but the Stewart Detention Center is way above that quota.
The news station stated it has tried to get comments from CoreCivic, the contractor that operates the facility, but has not heard back as of Dec. 8.
Legal Protection Status
In previous years, undocumented veterans had some legal protections safeguarding them from being deported. A 2022 directive from the Biden administration informed ICE agents to consider veteran status before deportation, if they didn’t have violent criminal backgrounds.
Concerned about veterans getting deported, more than 60 Democratic Congressmembers sent a letter to federal authorities imploring them to provide documentation of all veterans in the U.S. who have been deported or detained in 2025. The Sept. 16 deadline came and went without a list.
A memo obtained by 11Alive from Rep. Hank Johnson from Georgia from the Department of Defense stated it wouldn’t be able to meet the September deadline but expected to have a list ready by Oct. 17.
That deadline was blown, too. “Senator [Elizabeth] Warren’s office has been following up every two weeks with no response,” said a spokesperson for Rep. Johnson.
Detainment Hard on Family
Wade’s detainment has been especially difficult for his family, who can only see him sporadically. The Army veteran has six children and three grandchildren. Wade’s daughter, Christian, said visiting him in a detainment facility is sometimes more than she can bear.
“It is very traumatic,” she said. “He doesn’t deserve this, what he’s experiencing right now.”
Christian’s children, ages 4 and 6, are very close to their grandfather.
“It’s been hard trying to communicate why granddad is not available,” she said. “We typically see him every weekend. He doesn’t want them to see him behind that plexiglass. He doesn’t want them to see what he looks like.”
Undocumented citizen or not, Emmanuela, Wade’s youngest child, said the thought of her dad being labeled a criminal is hard to comprehend.
“For my first talent show, I was doing ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,’ and he created a kimono for me,” she said. “There were stars all alongside the sleeves. He was always supportive of our aspirations and our dreams.”
Still Believes in Country
Despite the pain and confusion of the past few months, Wade bears no hard feelings toward the nation he served. “If I didn’t believe this country is still great, I wouldn’t want to stay here,” he said. “I shed my blood for this country. I can live with myself if I just have a day in court so somebody can hear my story.”
But that process could be slow-moving, as Wade indicated he wasn’t given a case agent for almost two months. He’s still waiting to plead his case in front of a judge.
“I was told through my attorney that they’re waiting for a deportation,” Wade said. “I haven’t gone to see a judge. They’re saying that my situation is final.” Wade was also told he had been mailed a notice of hearing back in 2014, but it went to the wrong address.
Watkins said she hasn’t even thought about the possibility of Wade being sent back to Jamaica.
“Will we even get to say goodbye, or is it just gonna be a phone call and then the next thing you know, he’s in Jamaica?”
Watkins does hope her fiancé’s difficult situation will spark a change to restore protections for non-citizen veterans.
“If you served this country, you deserve a chance to stay in this country,” she said. “That is the hope for not only him but for any veteran who sits in a detention center. Look at the service that they gave this country and take that into consideration.”
Story Continues
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