A Manhattan green card holder detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for more than three months was released to reunite with his disabled son just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday.
When Heury Gomez returned home on Nov. 22, he said his first order of business was eating a decent meal, then seeing his mother and 18-year-old son Noah, who lives in a hospital in Westchester county. Gomez is the sole caretaker for Noah, who is non-verbal, suffers epilepsy and depends on a tracheostomy tube.
Gomez’ cousin, Carolina Zapata, described the father and son’s reunion as a “beautiful moment,” that brought her to tears.
“I was filled with so much emotion. I was so happy,” Gomez, 43, said in Spanish. “Noah was really happy. He was smiling and laughing a lot. Every time I see him happy, it’s very fulfilling for me. I’m just so grateful to God for the opportunity to be with him again.”
Noah, who had been sleeping more than usual in the months his father had been gone, has been continually upbeat in the days following his return.
“He lights up immediately as soon as he sees or hears his dad,” Zapata, 36 said.
Carolina Zapata
Heury Gomez, 43, reunites with his disabled 18-year-old son Noah after spending over three months in ICE detention. (Carolina Zapata)
In a cancellation of removal hearing on Nov. 12, a government attorney did not show to counter Gomez’s attorney’s argument that he should not be deported. Zapata was one of more than 150 supporters who showed up to the virtual hearing online.
“When I got on, he was crying out of fear,” Zapata said of Gomez. “But then when it was informed to him, the judge’s decision, and everything the judge was saying, as far as his character, he was smiling and then just crying out of joy. He was very, very overwhelmed with emotion.”
Judge Ian Simons issued the decision to release Gomez from North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, Michigan, citing the extraordinary hardship his son would face if he was deported, according to his lawyer, Brian Pu-Folkes.
“After nearly three months of unnecessary detention, the Court recognized what was always true, that Heury met the law’s requirements and deserved to be reunited with his son. Justice, at long last, prevailed,” Pu-Folkes said in a statement.
“I just felt an overwhelming sense of just pride and joy and just confirmation of who Heury is,” Zapata said. “Yes, this is about justice and this is about fighting back. But this is also about, at its core, helping my cousin, who’s like my brother, and how I know in my gut, in my heart, he didn’t deserve that.”
GoFundMe
Heury Gomez, 43, is the sole caretaker for his disabled son Noah. (GoFundMe)
Federal agents detained Gomez at Newark International Airport on Aug. 6 as he returned home from a short birthday trip to Mexico — a respite before he began the medical home training necessary to bring Noah home from the hospital where he has lived permanently for seven years.
Gomez’ decision to bring Noah home to his Manhattan apartment and care for him full time came followed by a months-long custody battle, Zapata said.
Gomez, originally from the Dominican Republic, entered the country legally and has held a green card for nearly twenty years, according to Zapata.
Homeland Security officials cited a prior arrest as the reason for his detention.
“On August 6, CBP arrested Heury Gomez Grullon, a criminal illegal alien, who was deemed inadmissible when he tried to enter the country. He was previously convicted of two counts of assault with intent to cause physical injury and petty larceny,” a DHS statement said.
The Trump administration has labeled green card holders illegally in the country if they have criminal histories the administration believes disqualifies them from remaining in the country.
Zapata says her cousin’s arrest was a decade ago and that he was convicted on misdemeanor charges.
The convictions stemmed from a “petty argument” over an EBT card with his former partner, she said. Gomez served 20 days in jail, completed probation and paid fines for the 2015 convictions, but always maintained his innocence, Zapata said.
Carolina Zapata
Heury Gomez, left, reunites with his disabled son after spending over three months in ICE detention. (Carolina Zapata)
While detained in Michigan, Gomez said he felt unsafe.
“It was a very frustrating and stressful experience, because you’re in an environment where there’s good people, but there’s also a lot of not so good people. So you don’t feel safe or secure. You’re mixed in there with other people who are real criminals.”
Gomez also said there was sometimes not enough food to go around, sparking several detainee riots.
The friends he’d made in detention were “so happy, and so surprised,” when he was released, given how unusual it was, Gomez said.
“They’re taking away a lot of innocent people who haven’t really done anything or who have super minor convictions but aren’t really a danger to society, and having them go through this entire detention process that is really unfair. It’s very frustrating,” he said.
Gomez and Zapata have already resumed the medical training required to bring Noah home to their Hell’s Kitchen apartment where they will care for him around the clock.
“I’m focusing on my son Noah, and continuing to provide for my family, to get back on my feet and work hard. And doing everything I can to just move past this,” Gomez said.
Zapata said she hopes her cousin will take the time he needs to process the whole ordeal.
“This has been a traumatizing experience for him,” Zapata said. “As happy as we are and I know as relieved as he is, only he knows what he went through in there. And it doesn’t erase the injustice and the scars that are left behind from this whole ordeal that was so unnecessary.”
