‘How can I continue working?’: US sailor speaks out after ICE detains father during West Asia deployment
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘How can I continue working?’: US sailor speaks out after ICE detains father during West Asia deployment")
Image circulated on internet Photograph: (X/@EzequielAguilar)
A US sailor deployed in West Asia expressed heartbreak after ICE detained his father, who was awaiting green card approval, as DHS cited illegal entry despite military family status.
The father of a US sailor serving aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier has been taken into federal immigration detention while the warship was deployed in West Asia amid the conflict with Iran, according to the sailor.
Luis Manuel Aviles Roa, who is originally from Nicaragua, was arrested by Border Patrol following a vehicle stop in Key West, Florida, a spokesperson for the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on Sunday (Aug 23).
His son, Joshua Aviles, said he had been deployed for more than nine months and was serving aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East when he was informed of his father's detention. “I’ve been deployed for over nine months, out at sea in the Middle East aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, fighting for a country that has given me everything,” Aviles wrote. “I just got a call that my dad was taken by ICE.”
Aviles said his father had a driver's licence, Social Security card and work permit. He added that the family had completed the immigration process for his father's green card and was waiting for it to be approved. “We have done everything through immigration to get his green card approved, and we are just waiting,” he said. “This is heartbreaking for me. I don’t know how I can mentally continue working 12+ hour days knowing that my dad is somewhere, possibly being treated like a criminal.”
Trending Stories
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
The DHS said Luis Manuel Aviles Roa had entered the US illegally and would remain in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention while removal proceedings were carried out. “Having a family member in the military is not a free pass to violate our nation’s laws,” the DHS said.
Rights groups have slammed the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, arguing that it has raised concerns over due process and free speech and created an unsafe environment for ethnic minorities, including allegations of racial profiling.
