AP Finds Records Backing U.S. Citizenship for Man Held by ICE in Indiana Since January

For nearly a year, a mentally ill man from Florida has been held in an immigration detention center in Indiana, even though records reviewed by the Associated Press point to him being a United States citizen, according to an investigation reported on Tuesday by the Indianapolis Star.

Phillip James, 39, who also uses the name Felibi Siagha-Coke, has been held since early January at Miami Correctional Facility, about 70 miles north of Indianapolis, the Star reported. The facility is called the “Speedway Slammer” by the Trump administration.

James, who first represented himself in court, insists he was born in Jamaica and entered the United States illegally, the Associated Press reported. He claims he is the son of a former Jamaican prime minister and descends from Lebanese royalty. The Associated Press said it found no evidence to support those claims.

Birth records and a disputed certificate

Lawyers now representing James have filed a 1987 birth certificate from Orange County, Florida, showing that James was born to a mother who is a United States citizen and a father who is a Jamaican national, according to the Star. The Associated Press also obtained a 1988 paternity lawsuit on its own that set out his birth parents’ identity, where they lived, and where James was born. Details in the paternity case match the birth certificate.

Public records and a medical assessment filed in court show that James has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, the Associated Press reported.

James’ current detention case began in 2024, when he filed several applications for United States citizenship and protection from deportation, according to the Star. In those filings he claimed he was born in Jamaica, said he was an adopted child of United States parents, and gave a false birth year of 1992. The government denied his applications and revoked his passport, saying a Florida birth certificate filed with his first passport was fraudulent, the Associated Press reported. Immigration and Customs Enforcement began removal proceedings in December 2025, and James was detained after an immigration hearing.

Department of Homeland Security and immigration officials appear to have accepted James’ own account without evidence or verification, according to the Associated Press. Jamaican officials told the Associated Press that the country has no record of his birth or citizenship. The Department of Homeland Security has not admitted any error, and James’ lawyers are challenging his removal order before the Board of Immigration Appeals. The office of Indiana Governor Mike Braun declined to comment, the Star reported.

A facility already under scrutiny

Miami Correctional Facility houses up to 1,000 immigration detainees under an agreement Governor Braun reached with the Trump administration, making it one of the largest detention centers in the Midwest, according to the Star. An Indianapolis Star investigation found the maximum-security prison was unprepared for the arrival of immigration detainees, with severe staffing shortages and medical care backlogs that were not fully reported to the state. Two detainees have died since the facility began accepting immigration transfers in October.

An audit ordered after the Star’s reporting led to the recovery of $195,000 from the state’s private prison medical care provider, the firing of one of the provider’s employees, and a referral to the Indiana Inspector General, the Star reported. Before it began holding immigration detainees, the prison was already one of the state’s deadliest lockups, according to an Indianapolis Star investigation last year, which found violence driven by a drug market run by gangs inside the prison.

Reporting based on coverage by the Associated Press and the Indianapolis Star.