Luis Manuel Aviles, left, and his son Joshua Aviles outside their home in October 2025 shortly before Joshua deployed on the USS Lincoln the following month. Photograph: Katherine Delgado/APView image in fullscreenLuis Manuel Aviles, left, and his son Joshua Aviles outside their home in October 2025 shortly before Joshua deployed on the USS Lincoln the following month. Photograph: Katherine Delgado/APFather of USS Lincoln sailor taken into ICE detention while son deployed in Middle EastJoshua Aviles says he is on a nine-month Middle East deployment and learned his has father has been arrested while he was waiting for green card approval
The father of a US sailor on board the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier deployed in the Middle East during the Iran war has been taken into federal immigration detention, the sailor said.
The border patrol arrested Luis Manuel Aviles Roa, originally from Nicaragua, after conducting a vehicle stop in Key West, Florida, a spokesperson for the US homeland security department said on Sunday.
Joshua Aviles, the son, posted: “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.
Read more“I just got a call that my dad was taken by ICE.”
His father had his driver’s licence, social security card and work permit, Aviles said. “We have done everything through immigration to get his green card approved, and we are just waiting. 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 DHS said Luis Manuel Aviles Roa entered the US illegally and would remain in immigration and customs enforcement detention pending removal proceedings.
“Having a family member in the military is not a free pass to violate our nation’s laws,” the DHS said.
Rights groups say the immigration crackdown under Donald Trump has violated free speech and due process rights and created an unsafe environment, particularly for ethnic minorities, who have raised concerns about racial profiling.
The Lincoln, which left the Middle East on Saturday, did not make a port call in more than 200 days. That set a modern-day record for consecutive days at sea, according to Democratic lawmakers who called for answers after sailors’ families raised concerns about about poor living conditions and morale on board.
The USS George Washington aircraft carrier arrived in the Middle East last week, where it is expected to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln.
