A U.S. Navy sailor returning from a record-setting deployment aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln revealed over the weekend that his father was taken into custody by federal immigration authorities while he was serving in President Donald Trump’s ongoing war with Iran.
Joshua Aviles posted an angry message to Facebook about his father’s case, saying he has a driver’s license, social security card and work permit. The son, who had been deployed for over nine months on the beleaguered aircraft carrier, shared that his father was in the process of getting a green card when he was arrested.
“This is heartbreaking for me,” he wrote on Saturday. “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. My dad’s only ‘crime’ was coming to this country to give my siblings and me a better life.”
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed Luis Manuel Aviles Roa had been placed in detention. Border Patrol agents took the Nicaraguan national into custody after a traffic stop in Key West, Florida, Saturday, a department spokesperson wrote in a statement.
Trending
“Having a family member in the military is not a free pass to violate our nation’s laws,” the DHS spokesperson wrote. “Military service by an immediate relative does not automatically grant parole, lawful status, or immunity from immigration enforcement.”
The USS Lincoln has been deployed for more than 270 days in the war with Iran, but it started heading back to the U.S. last week, following reports of worsening conditions aboard the ship.
The crew of the aircraft carrier spent more than 200 days without a port visit — a record — and the sailors and their family members raised concerns about food shortages, broken toilets and a lack of hygienic supplies that led to the declining mental health of those aboard, according to numerous reports.
Aviles Roa is among the growing number of military parents and spouses who have been detained under the Trump administration. During President Donald Trump’s second term, immigration authorities have taken custody of more than 50 relatives of active-duty military members, according to an investigation by The Associated Press.
Author
