A Navy sailor nine months into deployment in the Middle East learned his father had been arrested by immigration agents during a routine traffic stop in Florida — a man who had lived in the United States for two decades and held a pending legal application. The arrest of Luis Manuel Aviles Roa places in sharp relief a quiet tension at the heart of American civic life: the nation that asks some to serve it in uniform may simultaneously move to remove the families those same service members are fighting to protect. Under the current administration's expanded enforcement posture, the historical d
Navy sailor's father arrested by ICE while son deployed on USS Lincoln
A Navy sailor deployed overseas is experiencing severe mental distress—difficulty sleeping and eating—due to his father's detention and uncertain deportation proceedings, while separated from family during active military service.
Fighting for a country that has given me everything
Mark
What made this arrest different from routine immigration enforcement?
Mimi
The timing and the person affected. Joshua Aviles was nine months into a deployment on an aircraft carrier in the Middle East—he couldn't leave, couldn't intervene, couldn't even be there. His father had been living here for twenty years with a pending application for legal status. This wasn't someone who just arrived.
Mark
Did the military status matter at all to the authorities?
Mimi
Not according to DHS. They explicitly said having a family member in uniform is not a shield. They were enforcing the law as written, they said. But the law doesn't account for the human cost of separating a sailor from his father during active deployment.
Mark
How common is this happening now?
Mimi
It's become much more common. These arrests of military families were historically rare, but under this administration's mass deportation campaign, the restrictions that used to limit ICE operations were rescinded. Now anyone without legal status is fair game.
Mark
What's happening to Joshua right now?
Mimi
He's deployed, working twelve-hour days, unable to sleep or eat properly. His mind is on his father's location and condition, not on his job. His sister is trying to keep him informed, but communication is sporadic when you're at sea.
Mark
Does his father have any path forward?
Mimi
He had a pending immigration application before the arrest. Now he's in deportation proceedings. The application doesn't protect him—it just means there was a process in motion that's now stalled or derailed.
Mark
What does the family want?
Mimi
To know where he is, how he's being treated, and whether there's any way to keep him from being deported. But right now, they're in the dark, and Joshua is thousands of miles away with no way to help.
El Pulso
- A deployed sailor thousands of miles from home received word that his father had been taken by immigration agents during a traffic stop — not for any crime, but for his undocumented status after twenty years in the country.
- Joshua Aviles posted his anguish publicly, describing the impossibility of working twelve-hour days at sea while his father's whereabouts and safety remained unknown to him.
- DHS confirmed the arrest and offered no accommodation, stating plainly that military family ties do not exempt anyone from immigration enforcement — a position that signals this is policy, not exception.
- The elder Aviles had a pending legal application in process, meaning a path to status existed but now hangs suspended while deportation proceedings move forward.
- The sailor reports he cannot sleep or eat, his mental focus fractured — a human cost playing out quietly aboard an aircraft carrier while the policy debate continues on shore.
A Navy sailor nine months into deployment in the Middle East learned his father had been arrested by immigration agents during a routine traffic stop in Florida — a man who had lived in the United States for two decades and held a pending legal application. The arrest of Luis Manuel Aviles Roa places in sharp relief a quiet tension at the heart of American civic life: the nation that asks some to serve it in uniform may simultaneously move to remove the families those same service members are fighting to protect. Under the current administration's expanded enforcement posture, the historical deference once extended to military families has given way to a policy that recognizes no such distinction.
Joshua Aviles was nine months into his deployment aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln when he learned his father had been arrested. Luis Manuel Aviles Roa, a Nicaraguan native who had lived in the United States for roughly twenty years, was stopped during a routine traffic stop in Key West and taken into ICE custody, facing deportation proceedings.
From the Middle East, Joshua posted about the arrest on Facebook, describing a man known for his humility and willingness to help others. He wrote of the impossibility of continuing twelve-hour workdays at sea while not knowing where his father was or how he was being treated. His half-sister, Katty Delgado, told CBS News that their father had been on his way to a mechanic when he was stopped — and that he had a pending immigration application, a legal path forward now thrown into uncertainty.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the arrest and pushed back against any suggestion that the sailor's service should factor into enforcement decisions. 'Having a family member in the military is not a free pass to violate our nation's laws,' the department stated. Officials noted that Luis Manuel Aviles Roa had no criminal record, but maintained that immigration status alone governed the decision.
The case is not singular. Arrests of military family members — once historically rare — have grown more common under the current administration's mass deportation campaign, which rescinded prior limits on ICE and Border Patrol operations. For Joshua Aviles, the abstraction of policy has become deeply personal: a sailor who wrote of fighting for a country that gave him everything now finds himself unable to protect the one person he most wanted to reach.
Joshua Aviles was nine months into his deployment aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln when his phone rang with news that would upend his ability to focus on anything else. His father, Luis Manuel Aviles Roa, had been stopped during a routine traffic stop in Key West, Florida, and arrested by Border Patrol agents. The elder Aviles, a Nicaraguan native who had lived in the United States for roughly two decades, was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and faced deportation proceedings.
The younger Aviles, serving aboard the aircraft carrier in the Middle East, posted about the arrest on Facebook over the weekend. "I just got a call that my dad was taken by ICE," he wrote. "If you know my dad, you know he is a hardworking, humble man who is always willing to help anyone if he can. This is heartbreaking for me. I don't know how I can mentally continue working 12+ hour days knowing that my dad is somewhere, possibly being treated like a criminal." The strain was visible in his words—a sailor thousands of miles away, unable to help, unable to be present, unable to do anything but worry.
When the Department of Homeland Security confirmed the arrest, officials acknowledged that Luis Manuel Aviles Roa had entered the country illegally but offered no sympathy for the family's circumstances. The department noted that he had no criminal record, yet pushed back against any suggestion that his son's military service should shield him from enforcement. "Having a family member in the military is not a free pass to violate our nation's laws," DHS stated. "We are simply enforcing the laws passed by Congress. This Administration does not pick and choose which laws to enforce."
According to Joshua's half-sister, Katty Delgado, their father had been heading to a mechanic when he was stopped. He had a pending immigration application to obtain legal status—paperwork in process, a path forward that now hung in limbo. She told CBS News that communication with her half-brother had been sporadic since his deployment continued, but when they did speak, the conversation centered on one question: where was their father, and how was he doing? Joshua reported that he was struggling to sleep and eat, his mind consumed by worry rather than the work in front of him.
The arrest was not an isolated incident. Immigration enforcement actions against military families—spouses, parents, relatives of active-duty service members—were historically uncommon. But under the second Trump administration, which rescinded prior restrictions on ICE and Border Patrol operations as part of a broader mass deportation campaign, such arrests have become routine. DHS officials have made clear that immigration status supersedes all other considerations: anyone in the country without legal authorization is vulnerable to arrest and deportation proceedings, regardless of family ties to the military.
Joshua Aviles had written in his post about the weight of his own service. "I've 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 said. The irony was stark and unspoken—a sailor serving his country, separated from his family, now unable to protect the one person he most wanted to help. His father remained in ICE custody, facing an uncertain future, while his son remained deployed with no clear timeline for return or resolution.
Citas Notables
I don't know how I can mentally continue working 12+ hour days knowing that my dad is somewhere, possibly being treated like a criminal— Joshua Aviles, Navy sailor deployed aboard USS Abraham Lincoln
Having a family member in the military is not a free pass to violate our nation's laws— Department of Homeland Security statement
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Politics & Governance