一名持有绿卡的德国公民抵达洛根机场后被 ICE 拘留
【中美创新时报2025 年 3 月 17日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）据接受媒体采访的一名男子的家人和伴侣称，移民当局于 3 月 7 日在洛根国际机场逮捕了一名持有绿卡的德国公民。《波士顿环球报》记者Deirdre Fernandes、Sean Cotter 和 Camilo Fonseca 对此作了下述报道。
根据移民和海关执法局公开数据库，新罕布什尔州的 Fabian Schmidt 被关押在罗德岛州中央瀑布市的怀亚特拘留中心。
34 岁的 Schmidt 出生于德国，但十几岁起就住在美国，他的家人说。他们说，他有一张绿卡，在他丢失了之前的绿卡后，于 2023 年重新签发，这意味着他是合法永久居民。
施密特被拘留一周后，住在新罕布什尔州林德伯勒的施密特的母亲阿斯特丽德·西尼尔说，家人仍在寻找儿子被拘留的原因。
“我感到震惊，”西尼尔说，强调她的儿子是合法移民。“现在发生的事情令人难以置信。”
此案涉及逮捕一名合法永久居民，但答案寥寥无几。这是特朗普新政府在移民问题上采取强硬路线的最新移民执法案例。施密特的案件是一系列报道的一部分，这些报道涉及持有绿卡或签证的人在出国旅行后被移民当局拘留。
在他被捕的消息传出之前，罗德岛州的一名医生拉沙·阿拉维耶 (Rasha Alawieh) 曾前往黎巴嫩看望父母，尽管她的签证有效期至 2027 年，但她周四在洛根机场被禁止再次进入美国。此前，哥伦比亚大学的一名研究生马哈茂德·哈利勒 (Mahmoud Khalil) 也于上周末被捕，他是去年春天加沙战争抗议期间的直言不讳的人物，应特朗普政府的要求被捕。他的拘留引起了全国新闻头条和进步人士的抗议。
在错综复杂的移民法中，这些案件都有细微但重要的差异。施密特几年前面临轻罪毒品和饮酒指控，据称因未能在 2022 年出庭而被移民当局标记，而阿拉维耶和哈利勒似乎没有在该国的犯罪记录。施密特的家人表示，自从他获得新绿卡以来，他没有遇到任何新的法律问题，而且在续签过程中，他未能出庭也并不是问题。
马萨诸塞州法律改革研究所的移民律师 Heather Yountz 表示，施密特和阿拉维的案件也不同于哈利勒的案件，因为他们是重新入境，这使他们处于弱势地位。签证是入境申请，但并不保证入境，持签证入境的人可能会接受额外检查。持有绿卡的人通常只需出示绿卡即可入境，除非被标记为存在某种违规行为。
“当你试图进入美国时，你比你在美国时更容易受到伤害，”她说。
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她说，这就是为什么针对 Khalil 的行动令人震惊：他似乎因为政治观点而在美国被剥夺了绿卡。
“他处于一个更合法的境地，”她说，并指出宪法赋予的言论自由权适用于美国的每个人。
波士顿移民律师 Annelise Araujo 说，持有工作签证和绿卡的人要经过严格审查，包括背景调查和指纹识别。为了获得绿卡，申请人要接受所有联邦机构的审查，以确保没有任何可能导致他们不被允许入境的因素，这可能包括特定的犯罪问题或国家安全问题。
她说，这三起拘留事件“将对那些想来这里、想在这里学习、想在我们医院工作的人产生寒蝉效应。”
美国海关和边境保护局以联邦隐私问题为由，拒绝就施密特一案提供答案。边境保护局官员表示，边境保护局官员依法逐案决定外国公民是否可入境，并以专业态度对待旅客。
公共事务助理专员希尔顿·贝克汉姆 (Hilton Beckham) 在周六的一份声明中表示：“如果违反法规或签证条款，旅客可能会被拘留和驱逐出境。”
司法部移民审查执行办公室尚未收到针对施密特的指控文件，该办公室负责管理移民法庭。
施密特是一名电气工程师，他的母亲说，3 月 7 日，他刚结束为期一周的德国探望父亲之旅，在洛根机场被移民官员拦下。
施密特的女友巴瓦尼·霍奇金斯当晚等了他几个小时才从机场出来，这样他们就可以回到纳舒厄的家了。霍奇金斯说，她最终与美国海关和边境巡逻局的官员进行了交谈，他们告诉她，施密特被无限期拘留，她应该回家。
霍奇金斯说，她每天都打电话询问最新情况，移民官员最终告诉她，2022 年曾向施密特寄了一封信，要求他出庭，具体原因尚不清楚。霍奇金斯说，施密特从未收到过这封信。
霍奇金斯说，2023 年，当他申请并收到新绿卡时，并没有记录他未能出庭，因为他之前的绿卡放错了地方。
“他从未被告知有问题，”霍奇金斯说。
大多数绿卡有效期为 10 年。
据他的家人说，施密特过去曾与毒品和酒精成瘾作斗争。根据法庭记录，他在加州居住期间被指控犯有轻罪，包括持有管制物质、酒后驾车、无证狩猎和未出庭受审。
法庭记录显示，施密特参加了康复计划，支付了小额罚款，并被判缓刑以解决他的案件。
霍奇金斯说，目前没有对他的指控。
“他遭受着自己内心恶魔的折磨，”她说。但霍奇金斯说，他在 2022 年搬到新罕布什尔州后进入了戒毒所，并“致力于保持清醒”。
她和 Senior 说，施密特抱怨过他在拘留期间受到的待遇。他们说，他在被移民当局关押期间病倒了。
霍奇金斯说，施密特告诉她，他被戴上手铐送往医院，流感检测呈阳性。
据马萨诸塞州警方称，周一早上，施密特从洛根机场国际航站楼的海关区被送往波士顿的一家医院。州警察局发言人蒂姆·麦奎尔克说，美国海关和边境保护局的官员陪同他去了医院，“因为他们事先无法让此人通过海关”。他将进一步的问题转交给海关和边境巡逻官员。
海关官员周六下午无法提供有关施密特被送往医院的原因以及他在 3 月 7 日抵达医院和 3 月 10 日去医院期间被关押在哪里的信息。
施密特的家人说，周二他被转移到怀亚特拘留所。
德国驻波士顿领事馆的官员已经与施密特的家人和当局进行了交谈。
“德意志联邦共和国驻波士顿总领事馆已经了解此案，并一直与美国相关当局以及相关人员的家人保持密切联系，”德国驻华盛顿大使馆的一位发言人说。
“他没有得到公平对待，”霍奇金斯说。“这对我们一家人来说是不公平的，非常痛苦。”
题图：Fabian Schmidt.Go Fund Me
附原英文报道：
German national with green card detained by ICE after arriving at Logan Airport, family says
By Deirdre Fernandes, Sean Cotter and Camilo Fonseca Globe Staff,Updated March 15, 2025
Fabian Schmidt.Go Fund Me
Immigration authorities arrested a German national with a green card at Logan International Airport March 7, according to a family member and the partner of the man interviewed by the Globe.
Fabian Schmidt, of New Hampshire, is being held at the Wyatt Detention Center in Central Falls, R.I., according to a public Immigration and Customs Enforcement database.
Schmidt, 34, was born in Germany, but has been in the US since his teens, his family said. He has a green card that was reissued in 2023 after he lost his previous one, they said, meaning he’s a legal permanent resident.
A week into his detention, Astrid Senior, Schmidt’s mother, who lives in Lyndeborough, N.H., said the family was still seeking answers about why her son is being held.
“I’m feeling shaken up,” Senior said, stressing the point that her son was here legally. “It’s unbelievable what’s happening now.”
This case, involving the apprehension of a legal permanent resident with few answers available, is the latest instance of unusual immigration enforcement under the new Trump administration, which has pledged a hard line on immigration. Schmidt’s case is part of a wave of reports involving people with green cards or visas being detained by immigration authorities after returning from trips out of the country.
News of his arrest comes after a Rhode Island physician, Dr. Rasha Alawieh, who had traveled to Lebanon to see her parents, was prevented from re-entering the US at Logan on Thursday despite having a visa running through 2027. It also follows the recent arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student and outspoken figure during the Gaza war protests last spring at Columbia University, who was arrested last weekend at the behest of the Trump administration. His detention has generated national headlines and protests from progressives.
In the labyrinth of immigration law, each of these cases has slight but significant differences. Schmidt faced misdemeanor drug and drinking charges years ago and was allegedly flagged by immigration authorities for failing to show up to court in 2022, while Alawieh and Khalil do not appear to have criminal records in the country. Schmidt’s family says he has faced no new legal issues since he was granted a new green card, and that his failure to show up in court wasn’t an issue during the renewal process.
Schmidt and Alawieh’s cases also differ from Khalil’s because they were reentering the country, which put them in vulnerable positions, according to immigration attorney Heather Yountz of the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute. A visa is a request for entry, but does not guarantee it, and people entering on visas can be subject to additional screening. Someone with a green card can typically just present it and enter unless it’s flagged for some sort of violation.
“You are more vulnerable when you’re seeking to enter the United States than you are when you’re in the United States,” she said.
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That’s why, she said, the actions against Khalil were shocking: He seemed to be stripped of his green card while in the US because of his political opinions.
“He was in a much more legally secure situation,” she said, noting that the constitutional right to free speech applies to everyone in the US.
People with work visas and green cards are heavily vetted, with background checks and fingerprinting, said Boston-based immigration attorney Annelise Araujo. To get a green card, applicants are checked against all the federal agencies to make sure there’s nothing that would make them inadmissible, which could include specific criminal issues or national-security concerns.
All three of these detentions, she said, are “going to have a chilling effect on who wants to come here, and who wants to study here, and who wants to work on our hospitals.”
US Customs and Border Protection would not provide answers about Schmidt’s case, citing federal privacy concerns. Border protection officers determine admissibility of foreign nationals on a case-by-case basis, according to the law, and treat travelers with professionalism, agency officials said.
“If statutes or visa terms are violated, travelers may be subject to detention and removal,” Hilton Beckham, assistant commissioner of public affairs, said in a statement Saturday.
No charging documents against Schmidt have yet been filed with the Justice Department’s Executive Office of Immigration Review, which operates the immigration courts.
Schmidt, who works as an electrical engineer, was returning from a week-long trip visiting his father in Germany when he was stopped by immigration officials at Logan on March 7, his mother said.
Bhavani Hodgkins, Schmidt’s girlfriend, waited for hours for him to come out of the airport that night so they could return home to Nashua. Hodgkins said she eventually spoke with US Customs and Border Patrol officials who told her Schmidt was being held indefinitely and she should go home.
Hodgkins said she called for updates every day and was eventually told by immigration officials that Schmidt had been sent a letter in 2022 asking him to appear in court, why exactly is unclear. Schmidt never got the letter, Hodgkins said.
And his failure to appear in court was not flagged in 2023 when he applied and received a new green card, after misplacing his previous one, Hodgkins said.
“He was never informed there was problems,” Hodgkins said.
Most green cards are valid for 10 years.
According to his family, Schmidt has struggled with drug and alcohol addiction in the past. He has been charged with misdemeanors, including possession of a controlled substance, driving under the influence, hunting without a license, and failure to appear for jail, while he lived in California, according to court records.
Court records show that Schmidt has attended recovery programs, paid small fines, and was placed on probation to resolve his cases.
There are no current charges against him, Hodgkins said.
“He suffered from his own demons,” she said. But he went into rehab when he moved to New Hampshire in 2022 and has been “dedicated to his own sobriety,” Hodgkins said.
She and Senior said that Schmidt has complained about his treatment in detention. He fell ill while being held by immigration authorities and collapsed, they said.
Hodgkins said Schmidt told her that he was taken to the hospital in handcuffs and tested positive for the flu.
According to Massachusetts State Police, Schmidt was taken to a Boston hospital from the customs area of the international terminal at Logan Airport on Monday morning. Tim McGuirk, a spokesman for the State Police, said CBP officers accompanied him to the hospital “as they were not able to process the individual through customs” beforehand. He referred further questions to customs and border patrol officials.
Customs officials could not provide information Saturday afternoon about why Schmidt was taken to the hospital and where he was held between his scheduled arrival on March 7 and the hospital trip on March 10.
Schmidt was moved to the Wyatt Detention facility on Tuesday, his family said.
Officials with the German consulate in Boston have spoken to Schmidt’s families and authorities.
“The Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Boston is aware of the case and has been in close contact about it with the relevant US authorities as well as with the family of the concerned person,” a spokesman for the German Embassy in Washington.
“He was not given fair treatment,” Hodgkins said. “This is unjust and very painful for us as a family.”
