Father of USS Lincoln Sailor Freed After Immigration Arrest
Luis Manuel Aviles, father of a sailor on the USS Lincoln, was released from immigration detention after a judge dismissed his case.
The father of a U.S. Navy sailor deployed on a record-breaking nine-month mission has been released from immigration detention, his family confirmed.
Luis Manuel Aviles, a 48-year-old handyman in Key West, Florida, was arrested on Saturday while taking his car to a mechanic. His wife, Argelia Aviles, said her husband, a Nicaraguan national who has lived in the U.S. for 19 years, holds a valid work permit.
The arrest drew sharp criticism after it emerged that Aviles' son, Joshua, was entering his ninth month aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. The vessel recently set a U.S. military record for the longest uninterrupted time at sea, a deployment that has raised concerns about supply shortages and crew morale.
Joshua Aviles posted on Facebook on Tuesday that his father had been released. Department of Justice records show an immigration judge dismissed the case on Monday, just hours after Aviles was booked into a Miami detention center. The Department of Homeland Security has not commented on the arrest or release.
Immigration attorney Margaret Stock, who specializes in military family cases, called the rapid filing and dismissal of charges "super unusual."
Joshua Aviles, whose duties aboard the Lincoln include moving aircraft, said in a social media post that he has been working 12-hour days without a break since the ship left U.S. waters in November. The Navy confirmed his enlistment and assignment. The Lincoln is now being relieved by another vessel and is expected to return home.