German officials alarmed over U.S. immigration confusion as green card holder remains trapped in ICE custody

A German citizen and longtime legal U.S. resident remains in federal immigration custody after being detained at Boston Logan International Airport in Massachusetts, one of three German citizens the German government says have recently been taken into U.S. detention under unclear circumstances. The detentions are raising alarms in Germany and across Europe about possible changes to U.S. reentry requirements for foreign nationals, including Green Card holders.

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NBC News reports that Fabian Schmidt, 34, was taken into custody on March 7 upon returning from a trip to Germany via Luxembourg. Despite holding a valid Green Card, Schmidt was interrogated for hours, taken to a hospital, and then transferred to an ICE detention center in Rhode Island, where he remains, according to his family. His mother, Astrid Senior, and his partner, Bhavani Hodgkins, say they have received no explanation for why he was detained. They are raising funds through a GoFundMe campaign to pay for his legal representation.

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The German Foreign Office confirmed that Schmidt is one of three German citizens detained by U.S. immigration authorities recently, with two others having already been sent back to Germany, according to German press reports. The German government is investigating whether these cases are isolated incidents or part of a broader policy shift under the Trump administration, dpa reports.

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Germany’s Foreign Office is in discussions with European Union partners to determine whether recent detentions represent a broader crackdown on noncitizens trying to reenter the U.S. If necessary, Germany has said it will update its travel and security advisories for the U.S.

A German official told The Advocate: “The Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Boston is aware of the case and has been in close contact about it with the relevant U.S. authorities as well as with the family of the concerned person.”

The official said they couldn’t comment further on this case out of privacy and data protection laws.

Schmidt has been in custody for more than a week, and his family says he was subjected to harsh treatment during his interrogation at the airport, NBC reports. Schmidt alleges that he was yelled at, forced to undress, and later became ill while in U.S. custody. He was reportedly taken to Massachusetts General Hospital for treatment before being transferred to the Wyatt Detention Center.

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In a statement to The Advocate, Hilton Beckham, assistant commissioner of Public Affairs for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said, “If statutes or visa terms are violated, travelers may be subject to detention and removal. Due to federal privacy regulations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection cannot disclose details about specific cases.”

CBP officials told The Advocate that all travelers arriving at a U.S. port of entry are subject to case-by-case inspection under longstanding U.S. immigration law. They emphasized that CBP officers have broad discretion when determining a traveler’s admissibility.

CBP also noted that more than one million travelers enter the U.S. daily and that officers are trained to enforce immigration laws professionally.

Schmidt’s detention follows a recent warning from the German government about the potential risks faced by transgender and nonbinary travelers entering the U.S. under the Trump administration’s new policies, The Advocate previously reported.

On February 26, the German newspaper Rheinische Post first reported that the German Foreign Office alerted trans and nonbinary citizens to potential issues when entering the U.S. due to President Donald Trump’s executive order banning gender marker changes on official documents.

A German official confirmed to The Advocate that transgender and nonbinary travelers should check with U.S. authorities before making travel plans because of heightened scrutiny at the border.

Trump’s January 20 executive order stripped trans people of federal recognition, rescinded the X gender marker on passports, and instructed U.S. consular officers to flag applications where there is “reasonable suspicion” that an applicant is trans.

Advocates have warned that these policies effectively bar many transgender people from entering the U.S., and there is growing concern that longtime green card holders like Schmidt may also be at risk under stricter immigration enforcement.

While legal permanent residents are not U.S. citizens, they have long been able to travel internationally without the risk of detention upon return.

Schmidt’s lawyer, David Keller, did not respond to The Advocate’s request for comment.