RHOA star Porsha Williams' ex Simon Guobadia breaks silence on ICE 'nightmare' after getting deported

Daily Mail​

15 hours ago

Simon Guobadia, the estranged husband of The Real Housewives Of Atlanta star Porsha Williams, has given a scathing account of his time in immigration custody after he was deported to his native Nigeria over the weekend.
DailyMail.com confirmed Tuesday that Guobadia was released from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and sent back to his country of citizenship.
Now Guobadia has said that he had been spending time abroad, but traveled to America in order to attend a hearing related to his ongoing divorce from Williams.
However he claimed that when his flight landed, he was confronted by ' about seven agents with ICE ' who met him 'at the entrance' of his arrival gate.
Guobadia said his hands and feet were both in cuffs as he was brought to the detention center where he spent a 'nightmare' three months before his deportation.
He claimed he was given the option of either staying with the general population of detainees or in a separate cell because he was a public figure, so he took the second option, spending at least 23 hours a day on his own, with the result that he 'understood why people would kill themselves' in custody, via Us Weekly.
Williams has argued that her estranged husband's detention by ICE was 'self-inflicted,' citing 'upon information and belief, his multiple attempts to illegally enter and remain the United States, which resulted in his most recent detention,' in court documents obtained by People this March.
Now Guobadia has said he landed in the United States 'a day or two before the premiere of season 16' of The Real Housewives Of Atlanta, which aired March 9.
He claimed the ICE agents entered his plane to bring him off, and then peppered him with 'a bunch of questions about my business and where I was traveling from, and then they asked me to turn over my devices.'
Guobadia said his two cellphones - one for work in the United States, one for work in Dubai - were confiscated along with his laptop, and he duly 'gave them passcodes so they could do their forensic investigation, [if] you will.'
He continued: 'After that, they basically came and told me that I was being detained and that they would be taking me in, and I'll be seeing a judge at some point. So they slapped the cuffs on and I was taken away.'
According to his version of events, he had traveled without issue before and his immigration status was well known, so his detention 'felt like a target. It felt like a target because they had no reason [and] it felt like a target on a number of fronts.'
Guobadia, who has been deported before and has repeatedly overstayed his visas, pointed to 'the new administration and new administration policies, they've heightened their targets apparently as agents are waiting, looking through flight [logs] for names that may have popped up on their radar and take them into custody.'
He then sensationally alleged: 'And the second one was that I expected that I'm in a contentious divorce, and it's not just one individual I'm dealing with. I am dealing with those behind her, the powers behind her that, obviously, would like to see her succeed and ensure that the investment in this person will come to fruition. So I was not totally oblivious to the possibilities of…some interference.'
Meanwhile an insider with knowledge of the circumstances insisted: 'There's zero truth to this theory that there's a connection between Porsha and Simon's arrest. It was an internet meme.'
From the airport, Guobadia was taken to a facility where he was given the uniform and told he was ineligible for bond but would appear before a judge at some stage.
'That's when my shock realization kicked in that: "Oh my God, what's about to happen?" I was transported to a detention center that I don't recall the name right now, to be housed overnight and went through that experience [of] taking my regular street clothes off and having to put on inmate clothes.'
He was then taken to the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, spending three months there before he was released and sent home to Nigeria.
Guobadia spent his first two days at the Stewart Detention Center asleep, and then was permitted an hourlong visit by his friends and family.
'It was very emotional for me because prior to that, I didn't have a phone call. I didn't have a chance to phone them. I didn't have my phone book. I guess the kindness, or I don't know what it was, but the officer let me use this phone and I was able to get through to my house manager and she in turn got in touch with [my close friend].'
Guobadia stated: 'But the way this thing is designed is not like you're arrested and you're immediately given time to call. It could take a while, and sometimes it could take days before you're able to reach your family.'
In the detention center, he was informed that 'there are people who recognize that you're a celebrity,' and so he was being taken into 'protective custody.'
Guobadia professed to have been 'taken to an area that is called segregation,' in which he was given his own cell - though he was offered the choice of whether he wanted to stay isolated or live with the general population.
In 'segregation,' he was forced to spend all his time in his cell except for a single hourlong outdoor excursion a day, which could be revoked in case of foul weather.
During that period, he 'understood why people would kill themselves, but I'm too strong to do that. But I understand why people, when you [are] put in a certain mental headspace, you start to understand why people do what they do,' he said.
In the end, he elected to be released back into the general population of detainees, whom he described as predominantly Hispanic men 'who looked like they were picked up from work sites or their jobs.'
Although the center was mainly 'clean,' Guobadia felt 'the staff was poorly trained, they didn't have a whole lot of staffing. There was overcrowding, there were people detained, individuals who were sleeping in makeshift beds.'
Guobadia alleged that the facility contained significantly more inmates than the 'about 200 people' per unit and 'two people' per cell that it was supposedly built to contain.
On the subject of the 'terrible' food, he described a 'typical' breakfast as 'cereal and milk,' while lunch was a 'make-believe burger' of fake meat and 'a lot of beans,' and dinner could be spaghetti or tacos with rice and 'Every meal came with beans.'
He complained that the food had no 'nutritional value,' saying: 'I never got coffee. I never got tea. There was no purified water, no bottled water…none of that.'
'It's disheartening to see my estranged husband make choices that have led to this outcome. At this moment, my priority is moving forward with my family,' she wrote on Instagram
Inmates apparently shared a running joke that whenever they asked when they would be released, the ICE agents were 'never truthful' with them.
During his period of detention - a few days of which were spent in a clinic when he contracted the flu - Guobadia says he was given no news on the progress of his case.
Two weeks before his deportation, he was informed he was going to be released, though not before being placed in a holding cell with other inmates in which he claims he was left without food for 18 hours.
Guobadia says he is now working to reunite with his children and intends to travel to Dubai, having lived there in the past.
After his deportation, DailyMail.com confirmed that Guobadia was also no longer listed on the system of the US Department of Homeland Security.
DailyMail.com reached out to representatives of Williams and Guobadia after news broke that he had been sent back to Nigeria.
His friend Tai Savat told Us Weekly that Guobadia was sent back on a flight home to Nigeria a couple of days ago and was in 'good spirits' despite the tough experience of four months at the detention center which was the first time he was ever imprisoned.
Amid the ongoing immigration protests in Los Angeles, Savet said that Guobadia is not mad at US President Donald Trump and would actually like a sit-down meeting with him.
Back in February, Porsha broke her silence after estranged husband, Simon, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The entrepreneur was being held at Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, at the time according Us Weekly.
His status was listed as 'in ICE custody,' according to U.S. Department of Homeland Security's records.
Amid the news in February, the Real Housewives of Atlanta star — who's going through a contentious divorce from Guobadia — took to her Instagram, calling the situation 'disheartening.'
'It's disheartening to see my estranged husband make choices that have led to this outcome. At this moment, my priority is moving forward with my family,' she wrote.
Guobadia, who immigrated from Nigeria to the United States in 1982, allegedly overstayed his visa and was declared deportable in 1985. He subsequently returned to the United States in 1986 and once more overstayed his work visa.
It came amid President Trump 's order for massive deportations of illegal migrants, which he signed off on earlier this year which the nation has since come to fruition.
The order allows for the deportation of undocumented immigrants to their countries of origin.
Guobadia, who pleaded guilty to fraud in 1987 and was deported in 1992 after two more arrests, returned to the U.S. a month later.
His 2016 naturalization attempt was denied.
In 2024, the Atlanta Black Star reported that he had been repeatedly denied residency.
In February 2024, he celebrated his life in America, writing on Instagram, 'Happy Tuesday to all who ever overcame and persevered in life. You are winning #42yearsLivinginAmerica.'
Porsha filed for divorce just days later, after just 15 months of marriage.
The couple said 'I do' in November 2022 after getting engaged in May 2021. Their divorce is still ongoing.
Last September, Porsha was granted a major legal victory in her ongoing divorce from Simon.
In the latest ruling from the case, the court granted the reality star her request to 'quash' her ex's subpoena and request for a videotaped deposition of her employer, True Entertainment, along with a motion for a protective order according to People.
In addition a judge also denied Simon's emergency motions regarding discovery and awarded Porsha's attorney's fees of litigation to be paid by Simon as the filing also pertains to their prenuptial agreement.
Simon 'argues that Wife's desire to return to reality television or employment in the future constitutes a non-disclosure of material fact and misrepresentation, that renders the Prenuptial Agreement unenforceable,' according to documents.
He also claimed that Porsha had agreed to be a stay-at-home-mom and wife during their marriage and would even forgo her own career which the court found to be invalid.
According to People the court did not 'find merit' in his argument 'as the Court finds that Wife has been a reality TV celebrity for years, which was well known to Husband at the time of negotiating the Prenuptial Agreement, and Husband nevertheless married Wife with this knowledge.'
In the couple's prenuptial agreement it states that its 'central purpose… is to avoid contested and expensive litigation, including the costly and potentially intrusive discovery process, if an Event of Dissolution occurs.'
Now the ruling from the judge reads that the court finds it 'undisputed by both parties that the Prenuptial Agreement at issue in this case was negotiated by the parties with very competent lawyers over a year length of time, and included the exchange of financial disclosures, such that the issues of fraud, mistake, misrepresentation, and duress are clearly addressed in multiple provisions of the Prenuptial Agreement.
'Essentially, the crux of Husband's argument could have been explicitly contained within the four corners of the parties' Prenuptial Agreement, and it was not.'
This is considered to be a massive victory for Porsha as she is now at the final step of divorce proceedings and as the couple's prenuptial agreement is upheld by court, she will be awarded her legal expenses by her ex thus walking away a single woman.
Back in February Porsha broke her silence over the end of her 15-month marriage to Simon, who she first began dating in 2021.
Following news of their split, revealed in court papers obtained by People on Thursday, the star took time to acknowledge the supportive messages and comments she has received from fans.
'Thank you for your prayers & support [broken heart emoji],' she captioned a post, shared with her more than 7.6 million Instagram followers.
The couple said 'I do' in November 2022 after getting engaged in May 2021; pictured at the 2023 Pink Awards in Austell, Georgia
Within seven hours, she received 109,925 likes and thousands of supportive comments, including one from her Real Housewives of Atlanta costar Kenya Moore, Phaedra Parks and Cynthia Bailey.
Simon made his debut on RHOA at the conclusion of Season 13, introduced as the husband of Falynn Pina.
However, the pair went their separate ways after the conclusion of filming.
On May 10, 2021, Porsha revealed she was engaged to Simon after one month of dating despite him being the ex of her RHOA co-star.
'Yes we are crazy in love,' she captioned a selfie with Guobadia.
'I know it's fast but we are living life each day to its fullest. I choose happiness every morning and every night.'
Simon later confirmed the engagement on his own social media, gushing, 'I asked her to marry me because we checked ALL of each other's boxes, and then some.'
Porsha is back for The Real Housewives of Atlanta season 16, following her departure from the show after season 13.