Fabian Schmidt, a German national and Nashua resident, has returned home after being held by ICE since March 11. Courtesy photo

NASHUA – Fabian Schmidt, a German national and Nashua resident, is home after being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement since March.

“FABIAN IS FREE and HOME!!!!” said his partner, Bhavani Hodgkins, in a Facebook post on May 8. “We ask for your patience and privacy as we navigate through this.”

Schmidt’s mother, Astrid Senior of Lyndeborough, said the trouble began when her son returned to Logan International Airport on March 7 after a seven-day trip to visit friends and family in Luxembourg.

Hodgkins was supposed to pick him up at the airport and alerted the authorities when he was nowhere to be found.

Despite having a Green Card, Schmidt had been arrested by officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and allegedly endured a brutal interrogation. During that time, he was stripped naked and put in a cold shower. Schmidt was also reportedly suffering from influenza B and a heart condition.

“His perfectly valid Green Card had been tagged because he had failed to attend a hearing for which he had never received an invitation,” said Senior. “It was sent to an address where he was no longer living. To compound this error, he had just recently been provided with a new replacement Green Card since he had lost the original one. Even then, U.S. Immigration failed to let him know that there was an outstanding hearing which he had missed and that his card would be tagged.”

Schmidt was able to call his mother on March 11 after being transferred to the Wyatt Detention Center in Rhode Island.

Both Schmidt and Senior moved to the U.S. from Germany in 2007 and have held Green Cards since 2008. In addition, Schmidt’s legal residency was renewed last year.

Although Schmidt’s alleged offense was never disclosed, CBP spokesperson Hilton Beckham denied any wrongdoing on behalf of her agency.

“These claims are blatantly false with respect to CBP,” she said. “When an individual is found with drug related charges and tries to reenter the country, officers will take proper action.”