ICE releases Venezuelan soccer player detained despite asylum bid; she decries 'zoo' conditions

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released Venezuelan soccer player Claudia Carolina Rodríguez Caglianone on bail after more than two weeks in detention in Florida. Rodríguez Caglianone, 28, was arrested at Fort Lauderdale airport while attempting to board a domestic flight, following the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

She described her experience in ICE detention centers in Florida as feeling like "an animal in a zoo," citing sleeping on the floor and eating expired food. "It's unfair because there are people who are having a worse time in there. And, as I say, I am very grateful, I have lived in this country for 11 years and this is my country, I love it as my country," Rodríguez Caglianone stated at a press conference with Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who is following her case.

“

It's unfair because there are people who are having a worse time in there. And, as I say, I am very grateful, I have lived in this country for 11 years and this is my country, I love it as my country.

Rodríguez Caglianone, formerly the captain of the St. Thomas University soccer team in Miami, was released on bail Monday by an immigration judge at the ICE detention center in Pompano Beach. She had initially been arrested in Miramar, South Florida. The athlete, who legally arrived from Venezuela in 2017 on a tourist visa and later applied for asylum, had received TPS in 2023. She now aims to be "the voice" for women she met during detention, some of whom were pregnant and lost their babies.

“

Personally, I met two people who unfortunately lost their babies during the detention process.

"Personally, I met two people who unfortunately lost their babies during the detention process," she said. "The authorities were undecided about transferring them and did not give them medication, and obviously the stress, the agony, the lack of medical resources caused the loss of their babies," Rodríguez Caglianone commented.

Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz denounced these events amidst the Trump administration's efforts to detain migrants at airports and the cancellation of TPS. The legislator estimated that 300,000 Haitian, Venezuelan, Ukrainian, and Nicaraguan families in Florida covered by TPS are now at risk of deportation due to these measures. "This is a heartbreaking story. It is something that should never happen to anyone, but there are thousands more people like Claudia detained somewhere at this very moment. The recent cancellation of TPS for Haitians and Venezuelans will only worsen the situation," the federal representative stated.

“

The authorities were undecided about transferring them and did not give them medication, and obviously the stress, the agony, the lack of medical resources caused the loss of their babies.

Despite her release, Rodríguez Caglianone must still complete her legal process, and the congresswoman warned that she is "not out of danger yet."

“

This is a heartbreaking story. It is something that should never happen to anyone, but there are thousands more people like Claudia detained somewhere at this very moment. The recent cancellation of TPS for Haitians and Venezuelans will only worsen the situation.