Deported After Decades in the US, Missouri Man Struggles to Rebuild Life in the Netherlands

Owen Ramsingh lived in Columbia, Missouri, for more than four decades, raising a family and working as a security guard and property manager. But last year, his life was upended when Border Patrol agents detained him at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. Despite being a legal permanent resident with a green card, Ramsingh was flagged for a nearly 30-year-old felony drug conviction from Omaha, Nebraska.

Though Ramsingh served his sentence as a young adult, the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants with past convictions did not spare him. He was sent to an ICE detention center in El Paso and subsequently deported to the Netherlands, the country of his birth, in February. The Department of Homeland Security justified revoking his green card by framing it as a “privilege, not a right,” citing broken laws.

Now 45, Ramsingh faces the daunting task of rebuilding a life in a country where he barely speaks the language and has not lived since he was five years old. He lives with his father, with whom he reconnected in 2009, but remains separated from his wife and teenage daughter, who still reside in Missouri. The family is trying to stay connected through visits and video calls, but Ramsingh is missing major milestones, including his daughter’s high school graduation.

Ramsingh’s experience highlights the human cost of aggressive immigration enforcement policies that prioritize punishment over family unity and rehabilitation. His detention continues to haunt him with nightmares, and the trauma of losing decades of life, relationships, and stability is profound.

This case is part of a broader pattern under the Trump administration’s immigration agenda, which has deported hundreds of thousands of people, often targeting legal residents with old convictions. It underscores the urgent need for accountability and reform in how immigration laws are applied, especially when they result in the destruction of families and communities.

For now, Ramsingh remains cautiously optimistic, focusing on learning Dutch and finding steady work, hoping to reunite his family and build a new future. But his story is a stark reminder that the so-called “privilege” of residency can be revoked with devastating consequences, leaving people stranded in foreign lands and torn from the lives they built.