Border Patrol pushes back on claim that Nashua man with green card was violently interrogated

By Arielle Mitropoulos

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    NASHUA, New Hampshire (WMUR) — Protesters in Rhode Island gathered outside the Wyatt Detention Center Tuesday to call for the release of a man from Nashua who is currently in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Fabian Schmidt, 34, a German national, who has a green card, flew back from Luxembourg on March 7th, according to his mother, Astrid Senior, who lives in Lyndeborough.

It was then, Senior said, when he told his family that he was violently interrogated, stripped naked, put in a cold shower, following his detainment at Boston Logan International Airport.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection pushed back on the claims Monday.

“These claims are blatantly false with respect to CBP. When an individual is found with drug-related charges and tries to reenter the country, officers will take proper action,” said Hilton Beckham, Assistant Commissioner of Public Affairs.

News 9 analyzed court records from Butte County and Santa Clara County in California, where Schmidt used to live, and found at least several misdemeanor cases associated with his name, including one where he was charged with having a controlled substance in 2015, and a DUI case in 2016.

Schmidt’s mother told News 9 that her son has been focused on his sobriety. Court records show that Schmidt completed a recovery program in Nashua in May of 2024.

Immigration attorney Ron Abramson, who is not involved with this case, said that even with those prior charges, the treatment that Schmidt is alleging through his family is extreme.

“This is a level of harshness, rigidity, callousness that I’ve never experienced,” he said.

Representatives from Rep. Maggie Goodlander and Sen. Maggie Hassan told News 9 on Tuesday that their teams are actively in conversations with immigration officials regarding this case.

Goodlander’s office reported that they have gotten many calls from constituents, who are specifically concerned about Schmidt’s case as well as ICE raids happening in the community.

Lawyers for Schmidt did not respond to News 9’s repeated requests for comment, when asked for a status update on Schmidt’s case.

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