KEY WEST, Fla. — The father of a U.S. Navy sailor serving aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln was released from federal immigration custody Tuesday, according to a family member who spoke with CBS News.
The conditions of Luis Manuel Aviles Roa’s release were not immediately known.
Aviles Roa, a Nicaraguan national, was detained Saturday by federal immigration officers last week. The Department of Homeland Security said he entered the United States illegally.
Navy Sailor’s Father Detained in Key West Immigration Operation
KEY WEST, Fla. — A U.S. Navy sailor serving aboard the troubled USS Abraham Lincoln learned over the weekend that his father had been detained by federal immigration authorities in Key West as the sailor completed an extended deployment in the Middle East.
His detention drew national attention after his son, Joshua Aviles, said he learned his father had been taken into custody while he was in his ninth month of service aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.
“I don’t know how I can mentally continue working 12-plus-hour days knowing that my dad is somewhere, possibly being treated like a criminal,” Aviles wrote on Facebook over the weekend. “My dad’s only ‘crime’ was coming to this country to give my siblings and me a better life.”
The USS Abraham Lincoln has spent extended periods at sea during its deployment. The aircraft carrier has also been the subject of reports about morale and conditions experienced by sailors aboard the ship.
Katty Delgado, Aviles’ half-sister, told CBS News on Tuesday that Aviles Roa had been released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. DHS had not publicly disclosed the terms of his release.
Members of the family did not return calls from Above the Fold seeking additional comment.
The detention came amid the Trump administration’s expanded immigration-enforcement campaign. The administration has reversed restrictions that previously limited immigration arrests involving the spouses and parents of active-duty military personnel.
ICE on Monday deported Cristy Maryori Villafranca-Trejo, the wife of active-duty U.S. Army Sgt. Hedar Leonel Turcios Juarez, to Honduras. DHS said she entered the United States illegally in 2016 and had received due process.
CBS News contributed to this story.