‘Thank you for your service should mean something’: Army veteran faces deportation after 50 years in the U.S.

“You’re willing to die for this country. That should matter,” Godfrey Wade’s family says of the Georgia veteran’s potential deportation.

Not even years of serving this country can protect someone from deportation. Godfrey Wade, a Jamaican-born veteran, has reportedly been in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody for five months, despite his lawyer’s attempts to halt deportation. 

“It’s been an emotional roller coaster,” Christian Wade, his daughter, told CBS News. 

In 1975, Wade came to the United States lawfully as a teenager. He later enlisted in the army, where he served overseas before ultimately being honorably discharged. However, on Sept. 15, 2025, all of those years of service appeared to wash away when he was pulled over for failing to use a turn signal. 

“You’re not from this country, but you serve. You’re willing to die for this country. That should matter,” Wade’s fiancée, April Watkins, said per the outlet.

“When we say thank you for your service, it should mean something,” Christian added.

The traffic stop led to ICE detainment when agents discovered a removal order linked to a 2007 bounced check and a simple assault charge from 2006 that his attorney says was “non-violent.” 

“Someone’s old mistakes does not define who they are,” his daughter shared. “Understand the context. There’s more to a story than just four words, and people need to see the humanity of the person. No one is perfect. He restituted the money. He has an amazing relationship with his children as well as his ex-wife.”

According to Wade’s attorney, the subsequent removal order stemmed from his failure to appear at a hearing he was reportedly never notified of, as court records show the notices were sent to an address and returned as undeliverable. 

Though his appeal for Wade’s emergency stay of removal is pending, his family is growing anxious as the father of six was reportedly transferred from Atlanta’s ICE field office to Stewart Detention Center to a Richwood Correctional Center in Louisiana. After having already committed to regular five-hour road trips to visit Wade when he was in Georgia, his loved ones fear that he will be deported to Jamaica this week. 

“It’s heartbreaking for him,” Watkins said. “He’s a very strong man of faith, and so his faith is that foundation, and with that, I’m able to lean on him; he’s able to lean on me.”

Both Democratic and Republican members of Congress have reportedly sent letters to the Department of Homeland Security requesting that a case be opened and Wade receive a hearing. 

“What we are asking for is just that one hearing, that one chance, that one opportunity to be heard,” Watkins concluded.