Man held 10 months for removal to Jamaica awaits ruling despite Florida birth records

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has detained a mentally ill man for nearly 10 months and is seeking to deport him to Jamaica, even though his lawyers, his mother and public records say he was born in Florida and is a U.S. citizen, a review by The Associated Press found.

The man, 39-year-old Phillip James, also known as Felibi Siagha-Coke, is being held at a detention facility in Indiana while his lawyers appeal an immigration judge's removal order and press a federal petition for his release.

Key facts

• Who: Phillip James, 39, also called Felibi Siagha-Coke, diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia
• Where held: Miami Detention Center in Bunker Hill, Indiana, nicknamed the Speedway Slammer
• How long detained: nearly 10 months, since his arrest on 5 January 2026
• Removal order: an immigration judge ordered deportation to Jamaica in April
• Next step: U.S. District Judge Damon Leichty is expected to rule on a petition seeking his release

Why is he facing deportation?

Immigration authorities relied on James's own statements that he was born in Jamaica and entered the U.S. illegally in 2009, the review found. Jamaican officials have denied any record of his birth or citizenship there, and James has been unable to provide proof, public records show.

James's insistence that he was born in Jamaica is a symptom of paranoid schizophrenia, according to court reports from medical experts who recently assessed him. One psychologist concluded he was not "a reliable historian due to the serious nature of his mental illness."

What evidence supports U.S. citizenship?

James was born in Orange County, Florida, in 1987 to a U.S. citizen mother and a Jamaican national father, according to a birth certificate filed by his lawyers and attested to by his mother. A 1988 court document establishing his paternity matches details on the birth certificate, including his date of birth and his parents' identities.

He was issued a U.S. passport in 2008 under his birth name, and a renewed passport was approved in 2023 after a court-ordered name change. The government later revoked his passport and denied his citizenship application, alleging the original birth certificate was fraudulent but, according to the review, providing no evidence.

What does ICE say?

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, disputes that James is a U.S. citizen. In a 28 September court filing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Irvin described him as "a native of Jamaica and a citizen of Lebanon who entered the United States without admission," and argued his citizenship claim should be decided in immigration court.

The Department of Homeland Security has denied that ICE detains U.S. citizens and says detainees facing removal proceedings receive due process.

What happens next?

James is now represented by the Bronx Defenders, which filed a federal petition seeking his release on 19 August and is appealing the removal order to the Board of Immigration Appeals. U.S. District Judge Damon Leichty is expected to rule on the release petition.

Experts cited in the review said Jamaican authorities would be unlikely to accept James if he is not a citizen there, but that ICE could still try to remove him to a third country. No date has been announced for the court's decision.