A Navy sailor aboard the beleaguered aircraft carrier U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln said his father was released by immigration enforcement agents in the United States on Tuesday, several days after his detention at a traffic stop as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
Luis Manuel Aviles, 48, was arrested by Border Patrol agents on Saturday in Key West, Fla., as his son, Joshua Aviles, was returning to the United States after a nine-month deployment to the Middle East in support of the war with Iran. Amid reports of poor conditions aboard the carrier, it began its journey home to San Diego last week, a voyage of about 13,000 miles.
In an update shared on Tuesday on behalf of the family, the sailor said that his father had since been released. “At this moment, our family is taking time to be together,” he wrote.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
The Department for Homeland Security said earlier this week that Border Patrol officers arrested Luis Manuel Aviles Roa on Saturday during a vehicle stop and accused him of being in the United States illegally. At the time, the agency said he would “remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.”
Military service by an immediate relative “does not automatically grant parole, lawful status, or immunity from immigration enforcement,” the agency said in its statement.
However, after Joshua Aviles shared news of his father’s detention on Facebook, the case drew widespread attention, including from Democratic lawmakers. He said that his father had a driver’s license, Social Security card, and a permit to work in the United States.
“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,” Joshua Aviles wrote on Saturday, upon hearing of his father’s detention. “This is heartbreaking for me.”
The case generated notice in part because of recent reports of challenging living conditions aboard the Lincoln, a San Diego-based carrier with a crew of about 5,000 sailors that has been supporting U.S. military operations against Iran.
Democratic lawmakers had voiced concerns earlier this month over its crew’s well-being after reports of shortages of basic supplies, water contamination, and plumbing issues. Adm. Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, conceded hardships but said the number of mental health cases aboard the Lincoln was lower than on other carriers.
According to The Associated Press, Mr. Aviles was originally from Nicaragua and had lived in the United States for 19 years.
Mr. Aviles is one of a number of close relatives of current or former U.S. service members to be ensnared in the Trump administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
A government program known as “Parole in Place” offers protections to undocumented parents and spouses of service members from deportation, but those protections are not provided automatically.
Earlier this year, The New York Times reported that the White House had directed immigration authorities to set aside previous guidance that offered service members and their relatives greater protections.
In the year ending in March, immigration officials initiated deportation proceedings against 34 former service members and 248 relatives of former service members, according to federal data obtained by The Times.
In a separate case that attracted widespread attention in April, Annie Ramos, the wife of a U.S. soldier, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents while completing paperwork at an Army base in Louisiana where she and her husband, Staff Sgt. Matthew Blank, had planned to live. A week later, Ms. Ramos, then 22, was also released.
In a separate case in February, an immigration judge terminated a deportation case against the undocumented father of three U.S. Marines.
