Justice for Jemmy Project
Jemmy Rosa’s Story: A Life Built, a Homecoming Denied. A Movement Rising to Defend Her.
Jemmy came to the United States at age nine. She grew up here. She graduated, worked, and built a modest, honest life as an administrative assistant. She renewed her green card a month before her vacation.
She was returning from a family vacation when she stepped off the plane at Boston Logan Airport. Instead of being greeted by loved ones, she was taken into custody by federal agents. She carried valid papers. She is not a criminal threat. Yet she was arrested without explanation and held in detention for ten days. They took her phone. They took her medication. They took her voice.
Her health began to collapse. Preexisting conditions she had managed for years spiraled out of control. She was hospitalized twice while in custody. She begged for her prescriptions. Officers told her to wait. Her family was denied contact. She waited. No reason was offered.
When justice seemed possible, it was denied.
Her Crime?
Twenty years ago, she made the kind of mistake thousands of young people make. A small amount of marijuana.
Legal in the state today and an infraction that was fully pardoned by the Governor almost a year earlier, yet remained ignored.
She came home with a valid green card. Instead, she returned in handcuffs. We are fighting to restore her dignity and protect every green-card holder at risk.
Jemmy’s case is about more than paperwork.
It is about the kind of country we choose to be.
Source: New York Times. Read the full article: The System Is Meant to Break You’: What ICE Is Doing to People Here Legally
What happened to Jemmy is not an isolated mistake. It reflects how immigration enforcement has become increasingly expansive and indiscriminate.
Today close to 60,000 people are held in immigration detention nationwide, marking a roughly 50% increase over detention levels just months earlier. KFF
Nearly half of all people in ICE custody lack any criminal conviction or charges. In November 2025, 48% of detainees were held solely on immigration status. CBS News
Many of those detained are longtime residents, minors, parents, and workers, often with little or no criminal history. Civil immigration violations, not dangerous criminality, are the main reason for their detentions. Brennan Center for Justice
Justice for Jemmy means safety.
Justice for Jemmy means due process.
Justice for Jemmy means no family should ever face this again.
“The judge and prosecutor were shocked at the way she had been treated.”
“What the federal government did to Jemmy and her family shocks the conscience. This is the worst case I’ve seen in 20 years of practicing law.”
- Todd C. Pomerleau, Chair of Impact Litigation at Rubin Pomerleau PC and lead counsel with Mass Deportation Defense
We stand with Jemmy because no one should be punished for returning home.
We stand for green-card holders. We stand for due process.
We stand because what happened to Jemmy could happen to any one of us.
Your support helps GET MaDD fight in court. It helps provide legal defense, demand accountability, and protect families against wrongful detentions.
Help us demand justice. Help us defend Jemmy and protect every family like hers.
How We Are Helping
Justice for Jemmy Project
Human Rights Don’t Stop at Borders
Dreamers deserve safety, dignity, and the chance to build their future. Join the movement demanding justice.
Protect every Family whose future hangs in the balance.