90 Day Fiance star Jay Smith has reportedly been released from ICE custody. According to an exclusive report from In Touch, the 21-year-old is now a free, after being released from a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center at the York County Prison in York, Pennsylvania on Wednesday. Smith was first taken into ICE custody on July 3 on a Violation of a Protection from Abuse Order charge. Since then, he has been fighting to get released, even going so far as to create a GoFundMe page to help him be able to afford a lawyer.
The page was setup on Smith’s “behalf” by his “close friend” Kayla O’Brien.
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“As some people have seen or heard, Jay Smith, known from the TLC show 90 Day Fiancรฉ, is currently being detained in York County Prison on immigration detention and is facing potential deportation,” she wrote in the fundraiser description. “Jay turned himself into authorities Tuesday night with the understanding and intent that he was to see a judge the next morning and be released after the incident regarding a social media post.
“Jay is sitting in jail, awaiting a hearing on whether he will be deported or be allowed to make a life for himself here in the U.S.,” O’Brien continued, “however the way our system works with immigrants is different than how they treat citizens. They will hold him for a month or months, there’s no really telling how long, before even giving him the right to see a judge. The only way for him to sooner see a judge and pretty much have basic human rights is with a good attorney.
“Also the only way for Jay to avoid deportation from the U.S. is with a good attorney. Jay fears for his life if he is returned to Jamaica,” she went on to say. “[because] he is now seen as a traitor who has turned his back on his people and they will assume he has money since he was in America and on an American TV show so that keeps him at a continuously high threat for his safety if he is returned home. Jay has not received his share of the money for being exploited on this tv show and we are asking help to obtain him a lawyer.”
“I do not want this for my friend. I have visited him and he is his upbeat and positive self as much as he can be right now but he needs our help. Isolation like this strips a person of basic human rights and a makes a person go insane, he is innocent and he’s doing the best he can,” O’Brien’s message concluded. “Help this innocent, sweet, happy man fight for his freedom!”
At this time, Smith does not appear to have publicly commented on his reported release.
