A Venezuelan national was arrested and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents earlier this month in Arizona, despite coming to the United States legally through an appointment on the CBP One App and having an active humanitarian parole status.
"Everything was just going right until this happened,” the spouse of the person detained told ABC15. We’re not using her real name or the husband's name due to safety concerns for the family. "We have a social security number, have a driver license from Arizona.”
After entering the country legally in 2023, the couple obtained legal documents to work and filed for asylum. They started a family and have two young kids. The husband found a job and they were living the American dream.
"He was working so hard to be the support for us,” the wife told ABC15. "I just want him to be back with us.”
On February 6th, the husband was waiting in a Walmart parking lot for a delivery order when ICE agents knocked on his car window. Despite showing his legal work permit and driver’s license, he was arrested and is currently still detained in Eloy, Arizona, according to his attorney, Juliana Manzanarez
"We had somebody that you know, did his interview, was able to come in, applied for asylum, did all of the steps that he was required to do, and yet he was still detained,” Manzanarez told ABC15, adding that she expects to see more cases like this in the coming months. “With this new administration, the enforcement priorities, what it seems like is, is essentially anybody that isn't a U.S. citizen is potentially going to be detained if they find a reason for it.”
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Under the Trump administration, the Department of Homeland Security ended the CBP One App program and gave ICE agents the discretion to cancel parole status and place immigrants in removal proceedings.
"The Trump administration is misrepresenting what they're doing when it comes to law enforcement and immigration enforcement,” David Bier, director of immigration for the Cato Institute, said. "They are not specifically targeting people who are criminals or have criminal records or who even violated any immigration laws. They are trying to remove people who entered the country under the Biden administration, under Biden administration programs, even ones where the people entered legally and are still in the country legally.”
Verified documents show the Venezuelan man was granted humanitarian parole and has the legal ability to work in the U.S. until this coming December. We checked court records across the country and found no criminal violations.
"It's hard for me, and I just want him to be back with us,” said his wife, who is left with a baby and a four-year-old son trying to make ends meet. "I've been selling, making and selling empanadas, however, I'm afraid to go on the street and I fear that they will just take me away.”
According to Manzanarez, the husband has been detained for more than 20 days and still doesn’t have a court date.
ABC15 reached out to ICE for a statement, but they cited the Privacy Act of 1974.
Nearly a million people are currently in the United States on a parole visa through the CBP One App, said Bier.
