A 28-year-old Venezuelan woman with nearly a decade of residency in Florida described how agents from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) intercepted her at the Fort Lauderdale airport on July 17, just minutes before she was set to board a domestic flight.
The young woman, identified as Claudia Carolina Rodríguez Caglianone, had a pending asylum application since 2017 and had no criminal record.
Still, his name appeared in ICE's systems, and his afternoon at the airport ended in more than two weeks of detention. The case illustrates the escalation of immigration arrests at U.S. airports.
"I never imagined something like this could happen to me."
“I was at the boarding gate and, a few minutes before boarding, some ICE agents detained me and asked for my identification. Without returning it, they told me they needed to ask me some questions regarding my immigration case,” the young woman recounted to BBC Mundo.
Rodríguez had entered the United States in January 2017 on a student visa and, before it expired, submitted an asylum application that was still pending at the time of his arrest.
In 2023, he also obtained the Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a benefit that the administration of Donald Trump eliminated for more than a dozen countries, including Venezuela.
Regarding the reasons that led her to emigrate, she was direct: "We all know the regime Venezuela has been under since Hugo Chávez arrived, and I have lived in that corruption my whole life. Moreover, I didn’t feel safe in the environment I was in."
“I came here for the opportunities this country offers, which has been mine for almost a decade now,” he emphasized.
Installed in Florida, Claudia Carolina studied at St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens, where she earned a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in business administration, and became the captain of her university's women's soccer team.
Two weeks in custody: deplorable conditions
After being detained at a boarding gate at Fort Lauderdale airport, Rodríguez Caglianone spent eight days in the ICE Detention and Deportation Operations office in Miramar, in Broward County, under conditions she has described as inhumane.
It is reported that there were 47 women crammed into the same room, eating expired and moldy food, with dirty bathrooms, and they could not shower or change their clothes. On top of that, the only available water was from the bathroom.
She was subsequently transferred to the Broward Transition Center in Pompano Beach, where she stayed for another nine days.
After more than two weeks of detention, Claudia Carolina had lost approximately 15 pounds.
On August 3, an immigration judge set a bond of $5,000 and the young woman was released.
It was publicly supported by Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who conducted an unannounced inspection at the Pompano Beach center and confirmed that the young woman had no criminal record.
ICE, for its part, defended the detention.
"A work authorization or a pending application does NOT grant legal status in the U.S.", the agency responded when asked.
The young woman, however, acknowledges that her situation is not the most serious.
“I never imagined that something like this could happen to me. Although unfortunately, there are many other cases of people who have been unjustly arrested and are in a much worse situation than mine,” he admits.
Airport Detentions: An Increasing Trend in the U.S.
The case of Rodríguez Caglianone is not an isolated one.
ICE has intensified arrests at airports since a memorandum of understanding with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) went into effect, signed in May 2025, which allows both agencies to share passenger information.
According to recent reports, the TSA shared data on over 31,000 travelers with ICE, resulting in more than 800 arrests at airport terminals.
Abel Núñez, director of the organization CARECEN, warned that these arrests are not a matter of chance.
"When the person arrives, immigration authorities already know who is traveling and what type of immigration status they have," he stated.
The operations have been recorded in at least 15 airports, with detainees from more than twelve nationalities.
In June, ICE set its monthly record with 39,563 arrests nationwide.
Florida, where all county sheriffs have active agreements with ICE, has the highest number of immigration arrests.
Experts' warnings have extended even to those who go to the terminals to pick up or send off travelers, as family members have also been detained during these operations.
Núñez was straightforward in his recommendation: "If you can avoid traveling mainly through airports, do so, and look for other options."
Related videos:
Filed under: