The mother of NFL linebacker Neville Hewitt, Deon Jones, has been released from immigration detention after being locked up upon arriving in the US for an immigration hearing. Ms. Jones, who is the mother of Houston Texans linebacker Neville Hewitt, was allegedly escorted off a plane in handcuffs and a waist chain by an ICE officer when she landed in Atlanta, according to The Daily Beast. This incident occurred just as the NFL player was preparing for a playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens on January 20th.

Ms. Jones, 47, had come to the US from Jamaica when she was 12 years old but was ordered to be deported in 2014 after serving several years in a Georgia state prison. Her arrest in 2008 on a state drug trafficking charge, in which 40 grams of cocaine and marijuana were found in a car she was a passenger in, led to her deportation order. However, Mr. Hewitt, who was only 14 at the time, was unaware of his mother's arrest until after a football game at his high school.

In 2017, Ms. Jones was granted parole but spent another year and a half in a detention center under extremely stressful conditions. Eventually, she agreed to be deported to Jamaica. However, her immigration lawyer, Benjamin Osorio, successfully argued to the appeals court that her conviction for drug trafficking did not meet the federal standards for an "aggravated felony" and should not have resulted in her deportation.

Mr. Osorio's argument convinced the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit to grant Ms. Jones a new immigration hearing. However, she was still required to appear in person, as reported by The Daily Beast.

Fortunately, Ms. Jones has now been released from the detention center where she was being held and was reunited with her son by 8 pm on Sunday. This news brings relief to the NFL player and his family, who have undoubtedly faced significant emotional distress throughout this ordeal. The details of Ms. Jones' release and the conditions of her immigration status following the hearing remain undisclosed.