The mother of an NFL linebacker was put in a detention facility upon arriving in the US for an immigration hearing.
Neville Hewitt, linebacker on the Houston Texans, was preparing for what would be the team’s final game of the postseason when he received a two-word Instagram message from his mother.
“Call Ben.”
Deon Jones was reportedly detained by ICE officials at the Atlanta airport prior to the playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens. The 47-year-old spent nine years in a Georgia state prison after a car she was a passenger in was found with 40 grams of cocaine and some marijuana in its trunk, prompting her to be deported back to Jamaica in 2017, the Daily Beast reported.
Hewitt was only 14 at the time, only learning of her arrest after a football game at his high school.
While flying from Jamaica to Atlanta to prepare for an immigration hearing, she was detained by an ICE officer, who took her phone away just as she messaged her son alerting him to the issue.
“This is what’s going on here in our country. And a lot of us, we are just not aware that this is actually taking place,” 30-year-old Hewitt said. “It’s been going on for years.”
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His mother, who has never seen him play pro ball, would “love to be going crazy in the stands,” he told the outlet.
“I don’t care where you from or who you are, it’ll drive you crazy to know that you’re locked up and you don’t have an idea of why, and what’s going on with you,” Hewitt said. “You have no explanation. It’s mind-blowing.”
Under US immigration law, a deportee with a drug conviction is automatically detained if they ever return to the US, even if they are on an appeal like Jones was.
After his 34-10 playoff defeat, Hewitt said his mother’s mind was only on consoling him despite her situation.
Jones has been released from the detention center she was being held in and was reunited with her son. His mother was unable to watch her son play in person.
“It’s like we’re reliving something that we had already passed,” Hewitt said.
“We were already past this point and it’s like all of a sudden, out of nowhere, we’re back at square one.”
Jones was seen in an emotional video posted by the NFL player of his mother’s release.
While his season may be over after the playoff defeat to the Ravens, Hewitt said the legal nightmare may all be worth it if his mom is someday able to see him play.
