A beloved father, grandfather, and youth mentor from Harlem, New York, who has lived in the United States for more than 50 years, was detained Tuesday in New York City during a scheduled check-in at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office.
Robert Panton, 59, now faces deportation to Jamaica, a country he does not know, based on a single criminal conviction over three decades ago. After exercising discretion in favor of Mr. Panton for four years, today ICE reversed course, despite his strong communities and ongoing medical concerns. NIJC has filed a stay of removal and a habeas corpus petition to stop Mr. Panton’s deportation.
“They’ll hopefully look at the role I’m playing in my community and that detainment is not an option for me. If things go wrong, it would be a gross injustice and can be reversed at any time by the administration that’s in power right now,” Mr. Panton said in a statement prior to his check-in and detention. “There is a process where they say is someone better for the United States or not when they make these considerations. I hope they consider my community efforts trying to help youth stay out of issues that get them in trouble that they can’t get out of. I appreciate all my supporters and all the people who fight for not only due process but the proper consideration of being in this country.”
At today’s check-in, Mr. Panton was accompanied by his life partner, son, immigration attorney from the National Immigrant Justice Center, and Harlem community members who have supported Mr. Panton throughout his years-long fight to remain in the United States. They waited more than three hours before they learned that Mr. Panton had been taken into custody, despite significant evidence of his deep ties and leadership within the Harlem community and his ongoing medical treatment for chronic pain.
“I am a U.S. citizen and Robert Panton's youngest son. I am a New York City Police Officer. My dad is my role model,” said Mr. Panton’s son Dajon Panton, an officer in the New York City Police Department. “My wife and I recently had our first child, Olivia. My father was at the hospital when Olivia was born and he has been a constant presence in her life ever since. I am very scared for my dad’s health if he is deported. He needs to stay in New York with his family and his doctors. We need him.”
“I just stood by as my life partner Robert Panton was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” said Mr. Panton’s life partner Sheila Davis Dodson. “Robert’s home is in Harlem and we need him here with us now more than ever. He works every day to make Harlem a safer place by mentoring our youth. I truly cannot understand why ICE has decided to take him from us today, when Robert has done everything they have asked of him for years now. It's not right.”
“Removing Mr. Panton from his Harlem community, where he has been a lifeline to neighborhood youth who are in crisis, a family who loves and needs him, and access to medical care for chronic and debilitating pain, would be unconscionable and have harmful repercussions across an entire New York community,” said National Immigrant Justice Center attorney Olivia Abrecht, who represents Mr. Panton in his immigration case.
Background on Mr. Panton’s case:
Mr. Panton served 30 years in prison for a single drug conviction during the height of the U.S. government’s “War on Drugs” when, like many other Black men, he suffered the disproportionate punishment within the criminal legal system. Mr. Panton was released from prison by a federal judge in August 2020. Today, due to recent reforms, that same conviction would result in a sentence of around six years.
Now living in Harlem, where he grew up, Mr. Panton’s devotion to his family and neighbors has been his way of passing on the lessons he learned through incarceration and rehabilitation. He launched the Too Young to Die campaign in partnership with community-based youth organizations, and also partnered with local organizations to run a summer youth program. Members of Congress, Harlem community leaders, and over 70 New York and national organizations supported an unsuccessful presidential pardon request during the Biden administration.
