Venezuelan Immigrant Held by ICE for Three Months After Security Arrest at Trump Hotel

He stated detainees were placed on lockdown for four or five days at a time, that someone died inside the facility and that fights occurred. The Federal Bureau of Prisons stated that FDC Miami has not placed detainees on lockdown but implemented modified operations.

It said an elevator failure from April to July 2025 led to a rotating tier schedule that gave ICE detainees three hours of daily access to phones, showers, recreation and computers.

Rojas arrived in the United States in September 2021, turned himself in to Border Patrol and was released while his asylum application was processed. He worked at a brake disc factory in Wisconsin earning $29 per hour and was promoted to line supervisor. He married Zaragosa in September 2024 and began seeking to adjust his status through family sponsorship.

U.S. citizen raised in Wisconsin, said her family supports President Trump. “I’m his fan. I believe Trump is a good president,” she said. She also said the months her husband spent in detention were not fair.

Rojas’ work permit expired during detention and was not renewed. He was unable to renew his driver’s license. The couple sold their car, placed their Wisconsin house up for sale and depleted Rojas’ 401(k) to pay legal and bail costs.

Rojas said his debts now exceed $80,000. His next immigration hearing is scheduled for 2028. 38 million active cases and that asylum cases take, on average, more than four years to resolve.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson described Rojas as a “criminal illegal alien from Venezuela” arrested after attempting to enter the Trump National Doral with an airsoft gun and cited the drug-paraphernalia charge. ” Rojas’ attorney, Tahimi Rengifo, said the paraphernalia charge is a civil infraction under Florida marijuana laws that federal courts have determined does not trigger adverse immigration consequences.

Rojas rejected the DHS description and said it was an attempt to deny him a work permit.

The couple now has two children; the youngest is two months old. Zaragosa gave birth to their first child six months before Rojas was taken into custody. Rojas’ mother, Bernarda Galofre, said the family fell victim to a scam while trying to help him and lost about $2,000 to an impostor who posed as an attorney.

U.S. government to show compassion toward people who are doing things right. Zaragosa said she does not think anything bad about the president and that the situation was their fault for trying to see him.