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Longtime NJ Resident Patrick Julney Held for Ransom After U.S. Deports Him to Haiti

HeadlineAug 23, 2022

Immigrant rights advocates are demanding justice for Patrick Julney, a 38-year-old man from Haiti who says he was kidnapped and held for ransom after the Biden administration deported him in June. Julney had been fighting his deportation for three years, as he had no memory of Haiti and doesn’t speak Haitian Creole. Julney says Haitian security forces imprisoned him without explanation the day he arrived on a deportation flight. Since then, officers have repeatedly contacted Julney’s wife demanding thousands of dollars in exchange for his release. Julney spoke about the torturous conditions he’s faced in a video taken inside the Port-au-Prince prison and shared by his family and friends.

Patrick Julney: “Good afternoon. I’m Patrick Julney. I’m being held for ransom in Port-au-Prince in a Haitian prison. It’s bad. Medical conditions is bad. My ankles are swollen. My legs are swollen. I’ve been sick since I’ve been here. I have no help, no assistance. My family going through it.”

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