Family of North Carolina pastor who suffered stroke in ICE custody finally allowed to visit him in Texas
TheGrio...
Gabriel Johnson’s relatives say the 55-year-old remains partially paralyzed as they continue fighting for his release and access to rehabilitation following his medical emergency.
The family of Gabriel Johnson, the North Carolina pastor who suffered a stroke while in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, has finally been able to see him as they continue pushing for his release and answers about the medical care he received while detained.
Johnson, a 55-year-old Liberian immigrant who has lived legally in the United States since he was 15, was taken into ICE custody from his family’s home in Cary, North Carolina, on July 15. Since then, he has been moved through detention facilities in multiple states, ultimately arriving in Texas, where his family says he suffered a stroke on July 30.
NBC News reported Saturday that Johnson’s relatives recently traveled to Texas and were permitted to visit him after previously struggling to gain access to him following his hospitalization. According to accounts shared by the family, the visit lasted about an hour.
His family says Johnson remains paralyzed on one side of his body and faces a significant recovery.
The visit marks the latest development in a case that has drawn attention to medical care inside the federal immigration detention system and left Johnson’s family fighting on several fronts at once. They are seeking his release so that he can begin rehabilitation while also questioning whether his stroke could have been prevented.
As theGrio previously reported, Johnson has a history of high blood pressure and previous minor strokes. His daughter, Gabri Johnson, said her father repeatedly told relatives during his detention that he was not consistently receiving his prescribed medication, adequate food or water. The family alleges those conditions contributed to his deteriorating health before his stroke.
ICE has described Johnson as a Liberian national targeted as part of an immigration enforcement operation. His family, however, stresses that he came to the United States as a teenager, has maintained legal status for decades and built his life in North Carolina, where he became an ordained pastor, husband and father of four.
Johnson is also a graduate of North Carolina Central University, a historically Black university in Durham.
The circumstances surrounding his detention have become part of his family’s broader demand for transparency. A federal habeas corpus petition challenging Johnson’s detention was filed on July 23 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, where he had been detained before being transferred to Texas.
His relatives have also sought an emergency stay of removal, arguing that Johnson needs time in the United States to receive medical care and rehabilitation before any immigration proceedings move forward.
The family’s concerns intensified after his hospitalization. They said they initially had difficulty communicating directly with Johnson or obtaining information about his location. His daughter previously said a hospital contacted the family to tell them he had suffered a stroke, but they were not immediately able to freely communicate with him.
Now that family members have seen him in person, their focus remains on getting him out of federal custody and into rehabilitation.
The case comes amid broader scrutiny of health and safety conditions within the rapidly expanding U.S. immigration detention system. In North Carolina, the federal government is also moving toward expanding detention capacity, including plans involving the former Rivers Correctional Institution in Hertford County. State and immigrant-rights advocates have raised concerns about medical care, oversight and conditions as detention capacity grows.
For Johnson’s family, however, the policy debate has become deeply personal.
Their father entered ICE custody in mid-July, able to communicate with them and manage his existing medical conditions. Weeks later, they are trying to secure rehabilitation for a man they say is now living with the physical effects of a major stroke.
And while finally being able to sit with him offered the family something they had been fighting for since his hospitalization, their larger fight is far from over.
They want him home.