Last Friday, Newton Waite was back behind the counter at Vineyard Caribbean Cuisine. The chef-owner of the Oak Bluffs takeout window was hard at work, preparing red snapper and oxtail for customers who wandered up from Circuit avenue and the harbor. But some restaurant visitors were there simply to shake Mr. Waite’s hand — and to embrace him for the first time in almost a year.
Until two weeks ago, Mr. Waite was in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention. His detention lasted almost 10 months before a judge ordered his release earlier this month, allowing for his return to the Island, his business and his family.
“Words cannot express the way I’m feeling,” Mr. Waite told the Gazette. “I actually can touch people, people who are not in detention.”
Mr. Waite was born in Jamaica and has lived on the Vineyard for 20 years. ICE arrested him last September in the parking lot of a Falmouth food supply store.
His daughter, Oshantay Waite, said her father was in the process of securing his permanent U.S. resident status at the time, but had unknowingly missed a court date after being notified at the wrong address.
The case attracted attention from the Martha’s Vineyard branch of the NAACP and U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who wrote letters advocating for his release, noting that his lawyer at the time did not effectively assist him. Islanders donated thousands to the family’s GoFundMe to cover legal fees and Mr. Waite’s other needs at the facility.
On July 9, a California judge granted Mr. Waite writ of habeas corpus, ruling his prolonged detainment unconstitutional. Now, he’s back on the Vineyard as he waits for a ruling on his original immigration case, which will determine whether he can stay in the United States with his family or be deported to Jamaica.
“We’re just trying to be vigilant and mindful while also being grateful for his release,” Ms. Waite said.
Mr. Waite spent most of his detention at Buffalo Service Processing Center in Batavia, N.Y., the largest ICE detention facility in the state. Journalists have documented numerous issues at the facility, including overcrowding, medical neglect and administrators blocking access to essential items.
ICE also shuffled him around to Louisiana, Mississippi, Arizona, and then finally to Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Calexico, Calif.
All the while, Ms. Waite’s life revolved around trying to secure her father’s release and track his movements. She relied on the GettingOut and Access Corrections, two apps that allow families to communicate with ICE detainees for a fee, to stay in touch with him and help him pay for goods at commissary. She assembled a team of lawyers for him, including Halinka Zolcik, an accredited representative with the Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York. And she was raising the money to pay for all of it.
But early on the morning of July 9, Ms. Zolcik had news for Ms. Waite: Her father was coming home.
“Essentially, the government... did not oppose his release, as long as he’s on some kind of supervision,” said Ms. Zolcik.
Despite the joy of being released, the journey to the Vineyard from Calexico was taxing. Mr. Waite needed to get new clothes and a new phone, and get back to the Island from across the country. With help from a family member living nearby, he managed to buy a plane ticket, but he had problems getting through TSA.
He vividly remembers the moment he stepped off the ferry.
“I got off the boat that morning and I bent down to kiss the ground,” he said.
“It didn’t feel real,” Ms. Waite said. “I was just like, ‘Oh wow, that’s actually him….’ I was just very starstruck.”
For Mr. Waite, the reunion marked the end of almost a year of suffering.
He recalled being locked in a small room with as many as 70 people for days at a time, being unable to shower or reliably access a bathroom, and needing to sleep on the floor. The food was of such low quality that it gave him and several detainees severe digestive issues. At Batavia, Mr. Waite said he suffered two mini heart attacks for which he received inadequate treatment.
He said several detainees attempted suicide while in custody.
“People lose their mind,” he said. “It just makes you feel like... you’re alone in the world.”
Contact with the outside world was limited. His family tried multiple times to send him books and photos, which both he and his daughter claim ICE agents refused to deliver. He wasn’t allowed physical contact with loved ones during visits.
“You just have to put your hand on the glass and say, ‘I love you,’” he said.
Meanwhile, the family lost the ability to contact Mr. Waite or send him funds through the GettingOut app. Ms. Waite said she logged onto the app one day to find the Batavia facility had terminated her access.
“I called GettingOut.... They said, ‘The facility blocked you,’” she recalled.
Mr. Waite looked for bright spots. He recalled the first time ICE agents took him to the emergency room, seven months into his detention, and the rush of seeing a sliver of civilization through the window of the locked van.
“Through the hole... you can see the streets and cars and trucks,” he said. “I was excited looking at the stoplights.”
He bonded with other detainies, too. Though it was difficult to find people in custody who spoke English, he grew close to three young men that he said have become like sons to him. He held them, consoled them, prayed with them, encouraged them to eat. He made them birthday gifts with whatever he could find in the facility. They plan to visit him on the Island.
“They said they’re coming to look for me here,” he said.
Mr. Waite’s first appeal in his original immigration case was denied by the Board of Immigration Appeals, the highest judicial body for interpreting immigration law in the country. His case is now with the Eleventh Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals.
“Once you get up to the circuit courts, the standards are different,” Ms. Zolcik said. “A lot of times, they’re a lot tougher.”
Ms. Waite, a U.S. citizen, also filed a petition long ago to use her citizenship as a path to naturalization for her father and is awaiting action. Both Ms. Zolcik and Ms. Waite believe he has a strong case, especially because they say he has no criminal record.
“His case does seem promising, but it has seemed promising for almost a year,” Ms. Waite said. “We didn’t know that he was going to be there for that long.”
To raise money for legal costs, Ms. Waite is hosting an art showcase and marketplace at the Strand Theatre in Oak Bluffs on July 31. It will convene creatives of color to perform, sell their work and discuss art and mental health.
“I’m very tired, but this is something to look forward to,” she said.
The event’s origins stretch back to the community arts and wellness project Ms. Waite started as a student at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School. That project would become Better Than Yesterday Social, the organization she now directs in New York.
It’s work she’s had to largely put on pause for the past 10 months to focus on advocating for her father.
“Being able to honor [Island artists] and have these difficult conversations, while also celebrating them and my dad — I think that’s going to be beautiful,” she said. “I just know I’m going to cry so much.”
Ms. Waite is still adjusting to life after her father’s return. She still habitually checks Access Corrections and GettingOut, half-expecting that he called or needs his funds topped off.
“I’m just very blessed and grateful that all the work I did actually paid off,” she said.
Mr. Waite said he may not be home today if it weren’t for his daughter’s relentless advocacy.
“I’m so proud of her,” he said.
While he waits for his case to progress, ICE is monitoring Mr. Waite’s location and he must routinely check in at an ICE facility in Boston. Missing these appointments, or even rescheduling them, is not an option if he wants a favorable ruling.
“They will use that against you,” Mr. Waite said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Waite is trying to rebuild his life on the Vineyard.
He will soon see a doctor, and he’s trying to ease himself back into tolerating real food again. He’s getting some sleep, but it’s difficult. His body is still attuned to the detention center’s rhythm — ICE agents calling “count time” in the morning, and the cries that woke him up in the middle of the night.
Mr. Waite is grateful to be in America, but he also said it feels different from the country he grew up learning about and admiring.
“I think I deserve a chance to pursue liberty and happiness.... All I do is work here, stay on the good side of the law,” he said. “It makes you feel like there’s no more American dream.”
Now, he dreams of telling his story. He spent much of his time in ICE custody documenting his experiences. He wants to publish a book someday.
“You don’t have to make up [anything],” he said, touching a finger to his head. “It’s all here.”
To support Newton Waite's GoFundMe.
Comments (2)
Comments
Comment policy »