![Mother of Texans Player Trapped in ‘Heartbreaking Immigration Nightmare’](https://www.247footballnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/ho-2.jpg)
Deon Jones, the 47-year-old mother of Houston Texans linebacker Neville Hewitt, embarked on a journey last weekend with the belief that she was going to have an opportunity to challenge a previous drug conviction that resulted in her deportation. However, the unfolding events have turned into a nightmarish ordeal for the family, overshadowing the Houston Texans’ elimination by the Baltimore Ravens last Saturday.
Jones’ immigration lawyer, Benjamin Osorio, successfully secured a new hearing for her status with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta. Osorio, relying on information from an ICE officer, anticipated that Jones would likely be placed under house arrest with an ankle monitor upon arrival in Atlanta. Contrary to expectations, ICE treated her upon landing as if she were a high-security prisoner, demanding all passengers to remain seated while she was escorted off the plane in handcuffs and a waist chain.
Osorio’s argument is not centered on denying the 2008 incident but questions whether, under federal law, it should have resulted in her deportation. Despite returning to the country where she spent the majority of her life, Jones finds herself trapped in immigration limbo, detained at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia. According to Osorio, the conditions she faces in immigration detention are worse than prison, with limited activities beyond eating and sleeping.
Jones, who had not been incarcerated in Jamaica, faces a protracted process, potentially lasting months, involving hearings and potential appeals. Her primary objective is to obtain a green card, a pursuit that may necessitate surrendering her freedom for an unspecified duration. The outcome remains uncertain, adding to the distress for Neville Hewitt, who, at 30, has played for the Houston Texans for the past two seasons after stints with the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets. The abrupt return to a state of uncertainty for his mother’s situation has left him disheartened, describing it as a regression to square one.
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