📰 Curated from Associated Press
📖 Read full article→He was waiting for his son to return from the USS Lincoln. Then Border Patrol arrested him. - AP News
LifestyleBy Safiyah Riddle, Amy Taxin, Jack Brook8/23/20261 min read
The father of a man serving on the USS Abraham Lincoln has been arrested by immigration authorities. The ship has set a record for uninterrupted time at sea and its deployment has raised concerns about supply shortages and mental health among sailors. Luis Av…
✨ Key Highlights
- Luis Manuel Aviles, 48, a handyman in Key West, Florida, was arrested by Border Patrol on a Saturday after leaving home to take his car to a mechanic, according to his wife, Argelia Aviles.
- Originally from Nicaragua, Aviles has lived in the U.S. for 19 years and, according to his wife, holds a permit to work; his son Joshua Aviles was deployed aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln at the time of the arrest.
- The USS Lincoln set a U.S. military record for uninterrupted time at sea, raising concerns about supply shortages and deteriorating mental health among service members aboard.
- The arrest coincides with the Trump administration rolling back immigration protections for military families as part of its mass deportation agenda, with at least dozens of parents and spouses of active-duty troops detained.
- The AP's accounting found at least six family members deported and one self-deported; one soldier's wife was removed from a deportation flight to Brazil after AP reporting, though the government does not track such detentions.
- The Department of Homeland Security said Aviles will remain in ICE custody while it seeks his deportation, stating that "having a family member in the military is not a free pass to violate our nation's laws," while noting that "military parole-in-place" can grant legal status to relatives of service members, though not everyone qualifies.
When Luis Manuel Aviles was arrested by immigration authorities, his son was entering his ninth month on the USS Abraham Lincoln with the Navy a vessel that set a U.S. military record for uninterrupt