Navy sailor learns father detained by immigration officials during carrier deployment
A U.S. Navy sailor on the USS Abraham Lincoln was informed that his father was arrested by immigration authorities in Florida, highlighting a rise in immigration enforcement affecting military families.
U.S. Navy sailor Joshua Aviles, who is serving aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, said he received a call that his father had been taken into custody by immigration officials in Key West, Florida. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that Luis Manuel Aviles Roa, a Nicaraguan national, was arrested by Border Patrol during a traffic stop and is now in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody pending deportation proceedings.
"We are simply enforcing the laws passed by Congress," the department said in a statement, adding that having a family member in the military does not exempt anyone from the law.
Aviles posted on Facebook about the situation, noting his nine-month deployment in the Middle East and expressing concern about how the news would affect his ability to continue working long hours aboard the ship. The incident is the latest in a series of immigration actions involving relatives of service members, a trend that has increased since policy changes during the previous administration lifted earlier restrictions on such arrests.
DHS officials reiterated that anyone present in the United States without legal status remains subject to enforcement, regardless of military connections.