NEW YORK, USA — The Georgia-based attorney who says he was inspired to run for a seat in the United States Congress to help deportees like Jamaican Godfrey Wade has cleared the first hurdle, winning the Democratic Party’s primary in the state’s 7th Congressional District.

Tony Kozycki, an immigration lawyer, said he was disgusted by the system when he represented Jamaican-born US veteran Godfrey Wade and discovered how difficult it was to get him his day in court for a repaid bounced cheque and an unproven assault charge 12 years ago.

Wade, who lived legally in the US for 50 years, served overseas in the military and was honourably discharged. After being flagged for the offences he was deported to Jamaica earlier this year. Kozycki has since been fighting the case, with little success. He never became a US citizen.

Asked for an update on the case, the attorney told the Jamaica Observer, which carried the deportation story, that there had not been any major new legal developments or petitions filed on Wade’s behalf.

“However, we have not given up, as I still believe Godfrey deserves the opportunity to return to the United States and have his case heard fairly. We continue to advocate for him and remain committed to seeing him receive the process he deserves,” said Kozycki.

WADE.. Jamaican-born US military veteran who lived in America legally for 50 years before being deported

“Wade’s case did more than expose a broken immigration system, it exposed a failure of representation by Rich McCormick,” Kozycki added.

McCormick is the Republican attorney, an incumbent whom Kozycki will face in the midterm elections for the Georgia 7th Congressional District, after snagging the Democratic Party nomination by polling 19,742 or 40 per cent of the votes against nearest rival Case Norton’s 11,036 or 22.3 per cent.

The other two contestants polled a combined 36,000 votes in the May 2026 primary. Kozycki returned to defeat filmmaker Norton in the run-off, after garnering 11,667 to Norton’s 5,561 votes.
Kozycki accused McCormick of failing to provide adequate representation for Wade.

Both he and Wade have consistently maintained that notices for the Jamaican to attend a hearing were never received, due to problems with an address used by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), which they say courts records show.

Moreover, restitution of the bounced cheque and all applicable fees were made in full, according to Wade’s family. His attorney noted that no physical violence was ever alleged in the assault charge.

“All we are asking is for the case to be reopened and Mr Wade to have his day in court. There is no need to trust me or Godfrey, just look at the documents and the evidence. All we want is one day before a judge and I know we will win this case,” Kozycki told the Observer during an interview in March this year.

As for his campaign priorities, Kozycki said they centre on three issues: “Fighting corruption and working to rebuild trust in Government, tackling affordability and lowering the costs for working families, and expanding access to affordable and quality health care.”

There are significant Jamaican and other Caribbean communities in the metro Atlanta area which forms part of Georgia’s 7th Congressional District, something which has not been lost on Kozykic and his campaign.

Noting that Wade’s deportation has left many in the Jamaican community here disappointed over how he was treated, the attorney said: “I certainly welcome the support of the Jamaican-Americans in the district and all who believe in our campaign’s message of public service and bringing people together.”

As the nominations for candidates in the November midterm elections wind down, in the meantime, Jamaicans in Broward County, South Florida, are keeping a close watch on the contest in the state’s 20th Congressional District where one of their own, Dale Holness, is making a third bid for Congress, against four other candidates.

The 20th Congressional District is predominantly black and heavily favours the Democratic party. Were Holness to win the primary, due this Tuesday, August 18, and the November 2026 General Election, he would become the first Jamaican-born politician to enter the United States Congress.

Another Florida candidate, Republican Byron Donalds, who is running to be the state’s next governor, could add to the number of elected officials in the US with a Jamaican connection. Donalds’ mother was born in Jamaica, as was the mother of Maryland Governor Wes Moore, who is seeking a second term in the post.

Congresswoman Yvette D Clarke, who represents New York’s 9th Congressional District and leads the Congressional Black Caucus, is the highest-ranking representative with a Jamaican connection in Congress, as her parents are Jamaican-born.