The father of a U.S. Navy sailor who has been deployed in the Middle East for a record-breaking nine months was released from immigration detention, according to his family.
His arrest sparked intense backlash after The Associated Press reported that his son was entering his ninth month on the USS Abraham Lincoln with the Navy when his father was detained. The Lincoln is a vessel that set a U.S. military record for uninterrupted time at sea and raised
concerns about supply shortages and deteriorating mental health among soldiers.
Luis Manuel Aviles, 48, was arrested on Saturday after leaving his house to take his car to the mechanic, according to his wife, Argelia Aviles. She said her husband, a handyman in Key West, Florida, has a permit to work in the United States. Originally from Nicaragua, he has lived in the U.S. for 19 years.
Aviles’ arrest was the latest in a string of high-profile immigration arrests of the immediate family members of enlisted U.S. soldiers as part of President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown. Elected officials recently launched a congressional investigation into the Department of Homeland Security practice.
Aviles' son, Joshua Aviles, posted on Facebook on Tuesday that his father had been released from federal immigration custody. An immigration judge dismissed Luis Manuel Aviles' case on Monday, just hours after he was booked into an immigration detention center in Miami, according to Department of Justice records.
DHS didn’t offer immediate comment on Monday or Tuesday to clarify why Luis Manuel Aviles was arrested and subsequently released.
Margaret Stock, an immigration attorney for military families, called the rapid succession of filed and dismissed charges “super unusual."
Joshua Aviles said in a Facebook post on Saturday that he had been working 12-hour days without a break since the USS Lincoln left U.S. soil in November. The U.S. Navy confirmed that Aviles is enlisted and serves aboard the USS Lincoln, where his physically demanding duties include moving aircraft on the ship.
The vessel is being relieved by another ship so it can return to the U.S.
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Associated Press writers Konstantin Toropin in Washington, D.C., and Amy Taxin in Santa Ana, California, contributed reporting.
