ICE detained a Venezuelan soccer pro. His case shows the immigration backlog crisis
Homero Calderón, a Venezuelan professional soccer player, has been detained in an ICE detention center for nearly six months, despite having two immigration processes pending. Ramón Calderón hide caption Homero Calderón used to spend his days training at the gym and on the soccer pitch. The professional soccer player built a long career, playing for clubs in Venezuela, Portugal, Cyprus and, most recently, Italy. But for the last five months, Calderón has spent his days inside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Folkston, Ga. He's a father of two U.S. citizens, ages 1 and 3.
Missing media or need the complete publisher report? Open NPR News ↗
SN
Scoop News DeskVenezuela · Published Updated
Media link supplied by the Scoop Newsroom app.
Scoop News reporting summary
The text below was supplied by the Scoop Newsroom app. Third-party reporting is attributed in the source panel.
He recently missed his daughter's first birthday. "I've been 17 years with Homero," his wife Daniela Molina said in a video published on social media. "I had never heard him cry or ask for help like he has." Calderón was driving to a car shop in Florida in late February when he was pulled over for speeding by the Marion County Sheriff's Office and arrested for driving without a valid Florida license, the Department of Homeland Security told NPR in a statement.
