He was waiting for his son to return from the USS Lincoln. Then Border Patrol arrested him

Arrest in Key West

Luis Manuel Aviles, a 48-year-old handyman originally from Nicaragua, was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol during a traffic stop in Key West, Florida, on Saturday and remains in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody facing deportation proceedings. His wife, Argelia Aviles, told the Associated Press that he was detained after leaving the house to take his car to a mechanic. Stepdaughter Katty Delgado told NBC News the stop occurred near a Publix supermarket shortly after 11 a.m. Eastern time.

Argelia Aviles said her husband has a permit to work in the United States and has lived in the country for 19 years. Delgado placed the figure at roughly 20 years and said she knew of no criminal record or arrest history. Joshua Aviles, the couple’s son, wrote on Facebook that his father carried a driver’s license, Social Security card and work permit and that the family had pursued a green-card application and was waiting for approval. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the arrest to CBS News and NBC News, stating that Aviles entered the United States illegally at an unknown date and location. DHS did not dispute the family’s assertion that he lacks a criminal record.

Son’s deployment aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln

At the time of the arrest, Joshua Aviles was entering his ninth month aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. In a Facebook post widely quoted by CBS News, the Associated Press, NBC News and other outlets, he wrote that he had 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.” He described learning that his father had been “taken by ICE” and called the news heartbreaking, adding that he did not know how he could continue working 12-hour days knowing his father might be “treated like a criminal.”

Multiple outlets, drawing on Associated Press reporting, noted that the Lincoln set a U.S. military record for uninterrupted time at sea. Joshua Aviles said he had worked 12-hour shifts for more than 250 days without a break. The ship left the Middle East on Saturday after more than 200 consecutive days without a port call, according to accounts carried by USA Today, The Guardian and The Times of India. Democratic lawmakers have sought answers after sailors’ families raised concerns about supply shortages, living conditions and morale. The Pentagon referred questions to the Navy; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth previously described conditions aboard the ship as “completely misrepresented,” according to Associated Press reporting. The Los Angeles Times reported that President Donald Trump dismissed related accounts as a “fake report.” Navy statements indicated the carrier was en route to the West Coast, with the USS George Washington arriving to relieve it.

Immigration enforcement and military families

The arrest occurs as the Trump administration has rolled back earlier limits on immigration arrests by ICE and Border Patrol, a shift described across Associated Press dispatches and outlets that carried them as part of a broader deportation effort. The Associated Press reported that immigration arrests of military spouses and parents, once historically rare, have become more common, with at least dozens of parents and spouses of active-duty troops detained. In what the AP described as the first accounting of such cases—figures the government does not track—at least six family members have been deported and one has self-deported. One spouse was removed from a deportation flight to Brazil after AP reporting.

One frequently cited military immigration benefit is “military parole-in-place,” which can allow spouses, children and parents of active-duty service members and veterans to seek legal status from within the United States. The Associated Press noted that not everyone qualifies, including some who overstayed visas or previously applied for status at the border. NBC News reported that an Associated Press investigation had identified more than 50 parents and spouses detained and that USCIS considers discretionary options case by case. DHS told Telemundo that work authorization does not itself confer legal status.

Official and family statements

In a statement issued Sunday and reported by the Associated Press, CBS News, NBC News and others, the Department of Homeland Security said Aviles would remain in ICE custody while the government seeks to deport him. “Having a family member in the military is not a free pass to violate our nation’s laws,” the department said, adding that the administration “does not pick and choose which laws to enforce” and is “simply enforcing the laws passed by Congress.”

Argelia Aviles described her husband as devoted solely to work so he could put food on the table and as a father who “loves his children with all his soul.” Katty Delgado told NBC News he was “doing everything the right way.” Joshua Aviles’s Facebook post emphasized his father’s hardworking and humble character. Family members also described sending care packages during the deployment, according to Associated Press accounts.

Broader debate over enforcement

President Trump has said the administration’s immigration measures are intended to improve domestic security, a position reflected in reporting by USA Today, The Straits Times and The News International. Rights groups, quoted in the same outlets and by The Guardian, have argued that the crackdown has violated free-speech and due-process rights and created an unsafe environment, particularly for ethnic minorities who have raised concerns about racial profiling. Democratic lawmakers have separately pressed the administration over conditions on the Lincoln after families voiced worries about the prolonged deployment.

Aviles remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings. The Lincoln continues its return toward the United States after its extended time at sea.

Perspectives

Family members present Aviles as a long-term resident and hardworking father with a work permit who was awaiting green-card approval and had no criminal record. The Department of Homeland Security maintains that he entered the country illegally, that military family ties do not exempt anyone from immigration law, and that agents are enforcing statutes passed by Congress. The Trump administration frames the wider enforcement effort as necessary for domestic security, while rights groups contend it has undermined due process and free speech and fostered racial profiling. Democratic lawmakers have focused criticism on the length and conditions of the Lincoln’s deployment rather than on the arrest itself.