Timesdo. San Juan, Puerto Rico – Bradley Bartell, a U.S. citizen who voted for Donald Trump, never imagined that the very immigration policies he supported would end up separating him from his wife.
Camila Muñoz, a Peruvian citizen in the process of obtaining legal residency, was detained at San Juan airport while returning from her honeymoon. Now, she remains in a detention center in Louisiana, while her husband fights a legal battle in an attempt to reunite with her.
The immigration checkpoint at the airport changed the course of their lives. An officer detained Muñoz after confirming that she was neither a U.S. citizen nor a permanent resident, leading to her immediate transfer to a detention center. Bartell, who once backed Trump’s strict immigration policies, is now facing their consequences in the most personal way possible.
According to USA Today, Muñoz had overstayed her visa, although she was already in the process of adjusting her status. However, the current administration has tightened immigration procedures, prioritizing detentions regardless of whether individuals are in the process of legalizing their status. «Anyone who is not a lawful permanent resident or a U.S. citizen is at risk, period,» stated immigration attorney David Rozas.
Muñoz’s case highlights the impact of these measures. For Nora Ahmed, legal director of the ACLU in Louisiana, the new policies have turned the immigration process into a weapon against applicants themselves. «If you’re not a citizen, your first thought should be: how can this process be used against me?» she warned.
Meanwhile, Bradley Bartell, who once supported Trump’s immigration platform, is now experiencing the real cost of these policies. His savings, originally intended for purchasing a home, have been drained by legal fees and the cost of phone calls from the detention center, which are charged at 20 cents per minute. «I knew the immigration policy was tough, but I never thought it would affect us like this,» he admitted.
The expansion of ICE raids has shifted the profile of those being detained. Jesse Franzblau, an analyst at the National Immigrant Justice Center, warned that new directives have broadened the scope of arrests. «Now they are detaining people who previously wouldn’t have been targeted,» he explained.
The federal government maintains the authority to detain any immigrant in irregular status, even if they are in the process of obtaining residency. Experts warn that overstaying a visa can result in a reentry ban of up to ten years unless an exemption is granted. As Bartell continues his fight, the uncertainty surrounding Muñoz’s fate remains, reflecting the plight of thousands of immigrants caught in an increasingly rigid system.