Prince Gbohoutou is Free!

February 27, 2019

We are thrilled to share the news that our community member Prince Gbohoutou was released from ICE custody on February 21, 2019! Prince was in detention for over 10 months, and his long journey to freedom is a story of incredible strength and resilience, and amazing community support from Sanctuary DMV supporters and many partner groups. Please see his full story and our efforts below.

Prince Gbohoutou is an asylum seeker from the Central African Republic (C.A.R.) who has been living in the U.S. for the past 12 years since he was brought here as a 14-year-old, is DACA-eligible, is married to a U.S. citizen, and has built a career as an artist. Prince, who lives in New Carrollton, MD, was detained by ICE on April 19, 2018 when he voluntarily appeared for a check-in with his wife Shaniece and two Sanctuary DMV accompaniers.

After Prince was detained, Shaniece, Sanctuary DMV, and the DMV Sanctuary Congregation Network immediately launched a public campaign to demand his freedom. Together with other partners like UndocuBlack Network, we raised over $10,000 for legal fees, secured media coverage including a story in the Washington Post, lobbied all three of Prince’s elected officials in Congress, drove hundreds of calls to those elected officials as well as the Baltimore ICE field office, organized rallies outside the ICE field office and the Maryland jail where Prince was held for several months, and gathered thousands of petition signatures demanding his immediate release.

On May 24, 2018, without notifying Prince, his attorney, or his wife, ICE agents took Prince from the Maryland jail where he was being held to JFK airport with the intent of placing him on a plane to C.A.R. by way of Morocco. While handcuffed and shackled and despite being physically beaten on at least one occasion, Prince courageously insisted that he would be killed if returned, to the extent that the pilot of the commercial flight that ICE tried to force him onto refused to allow him to be boarded.

Prince was then returned to Maryland, where he was held at the Frederick County Detention Center for several months. We worked with RISE Coalition of Western Maryland and others to organize a vigil for Prince outside this jail, also using the opportunity to highlight the injustice of Frederick County’s contracts with ICE. In August, Prince’s stay of deportation was granted, but rather than being released from ICE custody, shortly after he was transferred to Etowah County Detention Center in Alabama – a facility often used to house long-term detainees (those they cannot deport immediately but do not wish to release).

While Prince was held in Etowah, Prince’s legal team pursued a variety of strategies to secure his release, and we continued to advocate with his elected officials as well as connected with Alabama-based movements like Shut Down Etowah and the Adelante Alabama Worker Center. Finally, on Thursday, February 21, 2019 – Shaniece’s birthday – Prince was released from ICE custody and allowed to return home.

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