6 JUNE 15-21, 2023 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | CRUEL BUT NOT UNUSUAL Family says lax care is killing amputee detained at Miami-Dade immigration facility. BY FRANCISCO ALVARADO G arfield Green may not make it out alive from Krome Detention Center in southwest Miami-Dade County. Since arriving at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility nearly two years ago, the 48-year-old Jamaican am- putee has experienced severe medical ne- glect and inadequate care resulting in painful sores, a worsening heart condition, and depression, according to family mem- bers and an advocacy group fighting his im- minent deportation. Already missing his right leg for most of his life, Green is at risk of losing his other leg from blood clots, and he is not getting a proper diet for his diabe- tes, they allege. “It is really tough,” his wife, Shamaya Green, tells New Times. “I feel helpless. He’s having suicidal thoughts. And he has a heart condition that causes him to pass out.” In recent weeks, her husband’s spirit has slightly improved, but she fears he could die while in custody or in his native country should he be deported. Green has a pending appeal of his deporta- tion order, and New York-based human rights organization Families for Freedom is seeking a Homeland Security prosecutorial discretion release for him. “Garfield is not a threat to U.S. soil and deporting him would be cruel and inhumane,” Families for Freedom case worker Janay Cauthern says. “With this pa- role, he can remain in the U.S. as long as he stays out of trouble.” Bad Decision When he was a teenager still living in Ja- maica, Green was shot in his right leg by a thief who stole his bicycle, Shamaya says. The wound developed gangrene, and his leg had to be cut off below the knee. A couple of years later, Green and his family emigrated to New York City, where he got a prosthetic leg, became a U.S. permanent resident, and went to work as a union welder after graduating high school. Harold Clarke, Green’s cousin, recalls his relative worked on some of the biggest con- struction projects in the Big Apple, including the new Yankee Stadium that was completed in 2009 and One WTC, the 1,776-foot-high skyscraper completed in 2013 on the site of the World Trade Center complex where the twin towers once stood. “He was very proud about working at One WTC,” Clarke tells New Times. “He had a fa- vorite T-shirt with the phrase, ‘We will al- ways rebuild,’ and the World Trade Center logo. He worked hard and didn’t want any handouts.” But in the mid-2010s Green stepped into a heap of criminal trouble. In 2014, he was the get- away driver in an armed robbery of an agent who restocked ATMs in Everett, Massachu- setts, according to a New York federal in- dictment against him. One of Green’s cohorts shoved a gun at the victim’s head while another accomplice took more than $250,000 in cash that the robbers divvied up in the Bronx following the caper. Two years later, Green was charged with inter- ference with commerce by threat or vio- lence, a felony. In 2017, he pleaded guilty and was hit with a five-year prison term. During his sen- tencing hearing, he expressed remorse to the presiding judge, according to a tran- script. “I can tell you honestly this was the biggest mistake of my life,” Green said. “I feel like such a fool. I’m on the verge of los- ing the one thing I care about more than anything in the world: my family.” Garfield Green, an amputee with diabetes, is fighting deportation while in ICE custody in Miami-Dade County. Garfield Green photo | METRO | “THE HEALTHCARE PROVIDED AT KROME IS INADEQUATE AND RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT SAFETY.” >> p8
