Luis Manuel Aviles Roa, a Nicaraguan national and father of a U.S. sailor currently deployed in the Middle East, was detained by immigration authorities this weekend in Key West, Florida, and placed in immigration custody by the Department of Homeland Security.
The Department of Homeland Security stated that Aviles Roa entered the United States illegally and will remain detained pending removal proceedings, adding that having family members in military service does not exempt individuals from compliance with U.S. law. His stepdaughter said he has lived in the U.S. for roughly 20 years and has no known criminal history.
His son, Joshua Aviles, has been deployed aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln for more than nine months. The carrier departed the Middle East on Saturday, having set a modern Navy record with more than 200 consecutive days at sea without a port call. Immigration authorities have detained more than 50 parents and spouses of service members during President Trump's second term.