A Bahamian Supreme Court judge has ordered the immediate release of wheelchair-user Jarvon Green, declaring his post-sentence detention “wholly unsupported by law.”
Justice Dale Fitzpatrick delivered the ruling on Wednesday after Green’s attorney, Martin Lundy, filed a habeas corpus application arguing that immigration officials had no legal basis to keep his client behind bars.
Green, who finished serving an eight-year prison term on 7 February 2025 for intentionally ramming a man with a van in 2018, should have been deported within 90 days under a removal order signed by Immigration Minister Alfred Sears on 10 February. That clock ran out on 11 May, yet Green remained in custody for more than two additional months.
The court agreed that Bahamian law ties detention strictly to the lifespan of a valid deportation order; once the order expires, so does the State’s authority to hold the individual. Government counsel argued that bureaucratic holdups in Kingston prevented timely repatriation, but the judge said administrative delays cannot trump statutory limits.
Although freed, Green still lacks legal status in The Bahamas. Immigration officers retain the power to detain him again should they secure fresh paperwork—leaving his long-term future uncertain despite Wednesday’s courtroom victory.
