A desperate plea from the brink of pain: 43-year-old Deon Lewis, an immigrant who’s called the U.S. home since age 11, is begging ICE to deport him to his native Trinidad. Trapped in a Houston immigration detention center, Lewis, who has been a green card holder for over three decades, is battling chronic sickle cell disease and accuses ICE officials of denying him critical medical care.
Lewis said, “It’s only a matter of time before something really bad happens to me. Why haven’t I been deported yet? I’ve been begging these people to deport me.”
Detained since June 17 and transferred to Houston on June 30 after initial confinement in Louisiana, Lewis suffers from painful sickle cell crises, has undergone lung surgeries, and requires daily medication, none of which he’s received regularly behind bars. That neglect has led to fainting spells, nausea, and excruciating pain.
Lewis’s criminal past stems from a 2002 guilty plea for cocaine possession and a 2020 arrest involving marijuana, cocaine, and a handgun. He says he has paid his dues, served probation, rebuilt his life, started his own business, and raised five children without assistance from child support. “I’ve been in this country since I was 11 years old. Yeah, I did something wrong,” he said.
In mid-July, Lewis signed a stipulated order of removal, giving up his right to appeal or judicial review so he could finally be released. In an act of sheer desperation, he and his wife offered to pay for his own plane ticket to Trinidad, a move he says he doesn’t regret even through uncertainty. “And that’s without me even knowing what I’m going into. I just want to get out of here so I can get medical attention,” Lewis said.
Attorney Rina Gandhi blasted the prolonged detention as cruel. “Every day of continued detention prolongs his unnecessary, cruel, and unusual suffering, while ICE continues to deny him essential medical care for his diagnosed sickle cell disease.” She detailed the severity of his symptoms, pain so extreme it causes vomiting and loss of consciousness.
ICE responded by defending its procedures. Officials said they must complete routine checks before deportation, including securing travel documents from Trinidad and Tobago, since Lewis lost his passport. They also pointed to Lewis’s criminal record, calling him “the definition of a threat to public safety” and insisting he remain in custody until removal is possible.
Gandhi contested ICE’s stance by referencing a previous case, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported despite lacking a passport. The differing treatment between cases raises uncomfortable questions.
Lewis’s wife, Roxanne, has repeatedly tried to help, bringing his prescriptions to the facility in hopes of getting him care. But, as Lewis reports, medical staff have been dismissive. “They decide whether they take you to see the nurse or doctor or whatever. But even when I do that and I go to the doctor they basically say there is nothing they can do,” he said. “They were giving me Ibuprofen then they stopped.”
Meanwhile, Lewis’s GoFundMe campaign, set up by his wife, aims to cover his legal costs and keep the family afloat during this ordeal.
This case sheds brutal light on the dark realities some detainees face when survival trumps borders and pain becomes a plea.
