Alberto Lovo Rojas, a 42-year-old Nicaraguan asylum seeker, experienced an arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) during a routine check-in, despite holding a legal work permit. Rojas had been checking in monthly through an app and felt increasingly anxious due to the Trump administration's deportation promises. After his last normal check-in on February 5, Rojas was detained on February 8, reflecting a troubling pattern linked to Ice arrests where many have occurred concurrently with check-ins, highlighting fears among asylum seekers regarding their safety and deportation risks if returned to their home countries.
Rojas fears he'll be targeted again. 'I'm afraid to go back, I'm afraid for my life, he told the Guardian. I'm afraid I will never see my children again.'
In the weeks since Donald Trump's inauguration, Ice had asked him to do extra check-ins each weekend. I even messaged the Ice office through my app, to ask if something was wrong, Rojas said.
The Trump administration had promised mass deportations, and in the weeks since Donald Trump's inauguration, Ice had asked him to do extra check-ins each weekend.
The Guardian has estimated, based on arrest data from the first four weeks of the Trump administration, that about 1400 arrests have occurred during or right after people checked in with the agency.
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