Luis Manuel Aviles Roa, 48, a handyman in Key West, Florida, was arrested by Border Patrol on Saturday, August 22, 2026 after a vehicle stop. According to his wife, he had left the house to take his car to the mechanic.
He is originally from Nicaragua and has lived in the United States for 19 years. His family says he had his driver's license, Social Security card and work permit with him.
His son, Joshua Aviles, is a U.S. Navy sailor who had been “deployed for over nine months, out at sea in the Middle East aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln,” the carrier whose supply crisis and 200-day stretch without a port call are documented separately in this tracker. He was waiting for his father to be there when he returned.
The Department of Homeland Security said Border Patrol arrested Aviles in Key West and that he will remain in ICE custody while the government seeks to deport him.
This is not an isolated case. Enforcement actions against the immediate family of serving U.S. military personnel have recurred through 2026, including the detention of the father of three Marines.