Venezuelan Doctor and Her Daughter Detained by ICE at Texas Airport on Way to Asylum Appointment

Last Saturday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, along with Border Patrol officers, detained Venezuelan doctor Rubeliz Bolívar and her five-year-old daughter, a U.S. citizen, at McAllen International Airport in Texas. The pair was attempting to board a flight to California for an immigration appointment related to Bolívar's pending asylum case.

According to Bolívar's family, who spoke with Telemundo 51, when she presented her documents to the agents and explained the purpose of their trip, she was told that her Venezuelan nationality was irrelevant.

The mother and daughter were taken to a detention center in McAllen. After roughly 16 hours, the child was released and handed over to her grandparents, while Bolívar was transferred to ICE's Valley Detention Center.

Bolívar's husband, Milenko Faría, who was waiting for them in California, described the experience as devastating for their daughter. "A five-year-old shouldn't have to endure this. She should be thinking about having fun, playing, and being happy like she always has been," he told Noticias Telemundo on Monday.

Faría also commented on his wife's condition: "She called me yesterday to say she was moved to the Valley Detention Center. She said she's being treated well. She remains strong; she's like a rock. But I can hear in her voice that she's not okay."

Bolívar has been in the United States for nearly a decade, working as an emergency physician in South Texas, an area designated by the federal government as having a shortage of healthcare professionals. The family claims she had a valid work permit until 2030 and a pending residency application through her husband's employment-related immigration process.

An unrelated attorney noted that agents are adhering to "new rules of the game," which state that no visas will be issued even if one attends their asylum interview.

Bolívar's arrest is the second such incident in South Texas in less than a week. On April 6, Venezuelan doctor Ezequiel Véliz was detained at a border checkpoint in Kenedy County while traveling to Houston with his U.S. citizen husband. Véliz, who worked at UT Health Rio Grande Valley, had a visa application pending from his employer, but his immigration status expired during the wait.

Bolívar's sister expressed the uncertainty and fear these situations cause: "You never know when it could happen to you. It's something that worries us greatly and destroys families, dreams, and hard-earned work."

According to the director of Médicos Unidos Venezuela, there are over 2,000 Venezuelan doctors in the U.S., with 90% facing pending immigration statuses, making them vulnerable under the Trump administration's immigration policies, reported El País.