German national with U.S. green card detained at ICE facility, family says

U.S. immigration authorities arrested and interrogated a German national who is a legal permanent U.S. resident at Boston Logan International Airport on March 7, according to the man’s mother and his partner. Days later, he was transferred to a federal detention facility.

Fabian Schmidt, 34, is now being held at the Wyatt Detention Center in Central Falls, Rhode Island, according to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement online database. ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In an emailed statement Monday, an assistant commissioner of public affairs at U.S. Customs and Border Patrol said: “If statutes or visa terms are violated, travelers may be subject to detention and removal.”

“Due to federal privacy regulations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection cannot disclose details about specific cases,” said the assistant commissioner, Hilton Beckham.

Astrid Senior, Schmidt’s mother, said she and her son moved to the U.S. from Germany in 2007 and received green cards in 2008. He lives in New Hampshire and renewed his legal permanent resident status last year, she said.

Senior said she has no idea why her son is being detained by U.S. immigration officials. She said her son, who once lived in California, faced misdemeanor charges roughly a decade ago. He has no active legal or court issues, Senior said. 

“I feel helpless. Absolutely helpless,” Senior said.

Senior and Schmidt’s partner, Bhavani Hodgkins, confirmed the family has retained a lawyer to work on his case. The lawyer, David Keller, did not immediately respond to an email and text message requesting more information Monday.

In recent weeks, President Donald Trump’s administration has ramped up border enforcement and moved to tighten immigration policies. Schmidt’s case raises questions about how federal immigration officials will treat people who are permanent legal residents.

The news of Schmidt’s arrest and detention was first reported by GBH, a Boston area public television station.

Senior, who also lives in New Hampshire, said Schmidt called her from the ICE facility on March 11 and provided his account of events leading up to his detention. She said she has not heard from him since.

Schmidt, an electrical engineer, recently traveled to Germany for seven days to visit family and flew into Boston Logan from Luxembourg on March 7, Senior said.

Hodgkins was supposed to pick him up and drive him back to the home in Nashua they share with their child, who is a U.S. citizen. Hodgkins called the authorities when he did not appear after several hours, Senior said.

Senior said Schmidt told her that he was interrogated at the airport, though she declined to provide specifics. He required medical attention at some point during the interrogation and he was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, Senior said.

Benjamin Crawley, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority, which owns and operates Boston Logan, said in an email: “We don’t have any information on this case.” He referred NBC News to CBP.

In an emailed statement, Sgt. Gregory Jones of the Massachusetts State Police said authorities dispatched a trooper to a medical call at the customs hall in Boston Logan’s Terminal E shortly before 8 a.m. on March 10.

“Boston EMS also responded and determined that the individual required transport to a local hospital,” Jones said. CBP personnel “accompanied the individual to the hospital as they were not able to process the individual through customs prior to the transport.” 

Mass General’s press office did not immediately respond to an email seeking information about Schmidt.

In an email, a German official at the German embassy in Washington, D.C., said it was “aware of the case and has been in close contact about it with the relevant U.S. authorities as well as the family of the concerned person.”

“We kindly ask for your understanding that for reasons of privacy and data protection laws, we cannot provide any further details on the case,” the official said. “Considering the procedures of the Customs and Border authorities, please refer to the relevant U.S. authorities.”