Columbia Missourian | By Sydney Rohrberg

Owen Ramsingh and his family have found a new home in Mexico after months of disruption in the wake of his deportation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In a July 2 post on the "Bring Owen Home" Facebook page, Ramsingh said that living in Mexico allows his family to be closer to friends and relatives in the U.S. and is more practical for his wife Diana as she seeks remote work. It also has more housing opportunities, he said.

Before he was deported, Ramsingh had been living in Columbia with his wife and daughter. He was involved in property management, as well as security at Rose Music Hall and The Blue Note.

In November, he was abruptly moved to a detention center in New Mexico and lost contact with his family. In February, he was deported to the Netherlands where he began living with his father, Ruben, and looking for work, housing and mental health resources in preparation for his wife and daughter to join him.

In the recent Facebook post, he said obtaining housing and visas for his family had proved more difficult than expected, and living in the Netherlands was no longer a viable option.

Ramsingh was originally detained by ICE at Chicago's O'Hare airport. At the time of detention, Ramsingh had a green card he had been renewing since he arrived in the U.S. in 1986 at age 5.

He has two prior drug convictions, including an expunged 2011 marijuana possession conviction in Boone County and a 1997 cocaine possession conviction when he was 16-years-old.

After contacting Ramsingh by email, he declined to comment, saying he wanted to protect the privacy of his family.

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