Atlanta-based Nigerian businessman, Simon Guobadia, has landed in a Georgia deportation camp after four decades of evading the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since 1985.
Mr Guobadia, now 62, left to the U.S. in 1982 and has a long history of multiple run-ins with the U.S. Immigration dating back to the 1980s.
The latest was his detention at the Stewart Detention Centre in Lumpkin, Georgia, first reported by US Weekly.
The Nigerian businessman was being prepared for deportation following an executive order by President Donald Trump to expel illegal migrants.
Mr Guobadia allegedly overstayed his visa and ICE declared him deportable in 1985.
Peoples Gazette could not immediately verify whether Mr Guobadia left the U.S. of his own accord before he could get deported or if it was ICE that shipped him out.
But he returned to the U.S. with a work visa the following year and reportedly overstayed the visa again, per the WSB-TV Atlanta.
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The businessman, an indigene of Nigeria’s Edo State, was arrested in 1987 when he pleaded guilty to allegations of bank and credit card fraud. It was unclear how and if the case got resolved.
But he was nabbed two more times by the U.S. security agenciesIn 1992, Mr Guobadia was deported and shipped to his home country, Nigeria, but he returned after one month to obtain a permanent residency status.
According to the Atlanta-based news medium, federal records showed that Mr Guobadia’s permanent residency status was granted under an “undisclosed identity,” a move that would later complicate his citizenship process.
His 2016 application for naturalisation was denied on the ground that his PR status under another identity was “unlawfully granted.” All attempts to appeal the denial were unsuccessful.
In November 2022, Mr Guobadia married Real Housewives of Atlanta star, Porsha Williams, in an extravagant ceremony in two countries, both Nigeria and U.S.
The marriage hit the rocks in February 2024 and the relationship between the two deteriorated to several callouts on social media. It was unclear how Mr Guobadia’s 15,000 square feet mansion in Sandy Springs, Georgia would be handled should the U.S. go ahead with his deportation.
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