Father of US Navy sailor serving in Middle East detained by immigration police

The immigration policy of the Trump administration has led to the detention of the father of a U.S. Navy sailor deployed overseas. Luis Manuel Aviles Roa, a Nicaraguan national, was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol in Key West, Florida, after a traffic stop. His son, Joshua Aviles, a sailor aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln currently deployed in the Middle East, expressed his distress on Facebook.

Joshua Aviles stated he has been serving for over nine months and is fighting for a country that has given him everything. He was informed of his father's arrest by ICE. The sailor mentioned his father possessed a driver's license, social security card, and work permit, and that they had completed all necessary steps with immigration services to obtain his residency card, awaiting its arrival.

"This situation is heartbreaking for me. I don't know how I can continue to work more than twelve hours a day knowing that my father is somewhere, perhaps being treated like a criminal," Joshua Aviles wrote. He described the situation as devastating, particularly given his military service.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed that Luis Manuel Aviles Roa entered the U.S. illegally and will remain in ICE custody pending deportation proceedings. U.S. authorities asserted that having a family member in the military does not exempt individuals from U.S. immigration laws. The USS Abraham Lincoln recently concluded a record-long deployment in the Middle East.