Veteran journalist Luis Galeano, one of at least 94 Nicaraguans denaturalised by the Ortega Murillo regime for opposing the government, has been detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Galeano, who has continued reporting on the Sandinista government online through his platform, Café con voz, since arriving in the US in 2018, has had an asylum application pending for about seven years, according to his wife, Daykel Santamaría. He also possesses a work permit and a social security number.
ICE agents pulled Galeano over on Monday morning in Florida shortly after he began his second job driving for Lyft. As of Wednesday, he was detained at Krome detention centre in Miami and has an immigration court date scheduled for 2 October.
Javier Melendez, a sociologist and friend of Galeano, stated that deporting Galeano to Nicaragua would be a "death sentence." The Committee to Protect Journalists and the Inter American Press Association have called for his release.