A Florida man filed a lawsuit after he was nearly deported to Jamaica despite law enforcement having evidence of his citizenship.

Peter Sean Brown turned himself into the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office for a probation violation on April 5 after he tested positive for marijuana, according to The Miami Herald. He was charged with resisting an officer with violence in 2016 and sentenced to drug offender probation for two years and six months.

On April 26, a judge added 12 more months to his probation and ordered Brown’s release. Instead, he remained in custody and was later told he was on his way to an ICE detention center in Miami. His eventual destination was going to be Jamaica, a country he only visited once during a cruise.

Brown, who was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, repeatedly told officers he could prove he was an American citizen. The 50-year-old filed several written complaints, called ICE numerous times and even had a manager from his job vouch for him. Despite his efforts, the sheriff’s office insisted on holding him.

“It is not up to us to determine the validity of the ICE hold. That is between you, your attorney and ICE,” the office wrote in response to one of his requests.

The officers even made fun of him, according to the lawsuit filed by the ACLU.

“The Sheriff’s officers mocked him. After Mr. Brown told them he was born in Philadelphia, one of the guards sang him the theme song to the 1990s TV show Fresh Prince of Bel Air—which references being ‘born and raised’ in West Philadelphia. The guard then told Mr. Brown to stop ‘bothering’ him,” it read.

Officers also told Brown, “Yeah, whatever mon, everything’s gonna be alright,” in a Jamaican accent.

The ACLU said Brown was especially worried about Jamaica’s history of homophobia.

“Mr. Brown was terrified. As a gay man, he feared that he would be subject to abuse in detention once he arrived in Jamaica,” said legal documents.

He was later taken into ICE custody and placed on a bus without water and food. The detainees were left sitting for two hours without a bathroom break, and one man pooped on himself, causing the guards to exit the bus. Brown and the other prisoners were left on board.

Brown's roommate faxed his birth certificate to ICE agents who agreed to review the document. Once they confirmed he was indeed a citizen, he was released on April 27, days before his scheduled trip to Jamaica. His plight wasn’t over because he was stuck in Miami without transportation to Key West where he lives. Eventually, his roommate’s daughter picked him up.

“I would never have expected in a million years that this would happen,” Brown said in a video from the ACLU. “With policies like this and people implementing them like that, it’s only going to continue. There has to be a stop to it at some point before it becomes all of us.”

The suit is asking for monetary compensation for damages and payment of Brown’s legal fees.

Money may have motivated Brown’s detention since 17 Florida counties receive $50 for every person they keep for ICE. Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay nor his office would comment on the litigation.

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Peter Sean Brown

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