IOWA CITY, Iowa — For nearly a year, immigration authorities have detained and sought to deport a mentally ill man whose mother, lawyers and public records say was born in the United States, not Jamaica as he claims, a review by The Associated Press found.
The man is Phillip James, 39. Attorneys and family members told the AP he also goes by the name Felibi Siagha-Coke, and he has been held since early January at Miami Correctional Facility in Indiana, about 70 miles north of Indianapolis. The Trump administration has dubbed the facility the “Speedway Slammer.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has no authority to detain U.S. citizens. The agency has long done so anyway, usually for hours or days, when officers mistake an identity or cannot verify citizenship right away. Immigration lawyers told the AP a nearly 10-month improper detention would be rare, though not unprecedented.
James insists he was born in Jamaica and entered the United States illegally. He says he is the illegitimate son of a former Jamaican prime minister and descends from Lebanese royalty. The AP found no evidence for those claims.
Records point the other way. His lawyers have filed a 1987 birth certificate from Orange County, Florida. It shows a mother who is a U.S. citizen and a father who is a Jamaican national. The AP also obtained a 1988 paternity lawsuit on its own. It names the same parents, gives their place of residence and lists James’ place of birth, and the details match the birth certificate.
Jamaican officials told the AP the country has no record of his birth or citizenship there.
A medical assessment filed in court, along with public records, shows James has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and experiences grand delusion. He first represented himself in court.
His detention grew out of applications he filed in 2024. For reasons that remain unclear, James submitted multiple applications for U.S. citizenship and for protection from deportation. In them, he said he was born in Jamaica, said he was the adopted child of U.S. parents and gave a false birth year of 1992. He also began using a longer name, Felibi Siagha Baladi Kambil Coke.
The government denied the application and revoked his passport. Officials said the Florida birth certificate filed with his original passport application was fraudulent, the AP reported. According to the AP, the Department of Homeland Security and immigration officials appear to have accepted James’ account without evidence or verification.
ICE opened removal proceedings in December 2025, when James was living in New York City. He was detained after an immigration hearing.
His attorneys are now challenging the removal order before the Board of Immigration Appeals. The Department of Homeland Security has not admitted any error. Indiana Gov. Mike Braun’s office declined to comment.
Miami Correctional Facility is holding up to 1,000 immigration detainees under an agreement Braun reached with the Trump administration, making it one of the largest detention sites in the Midwest. An IndyStar investigation found the maximum-security prison was unprepared for the influx, with severe staffing shortages and large medical care backlogs, and two detainees have died since the facility began taking ICE transfers in October.
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