Father of Navy sailor aboard USS Lincoln released from immigration custody

Luis Manuel Aviles, 48, the father of a US Navy sailor serving on the USS Lincoln, has been released from immigration detention, his family confirmed. The arrest of Aviles, a handyman from Key West, Florida, has sparked controversy after The Associated Press reported that his son, Joshua Aviles, had been on the USS Lincoln for nine months. The USS Lincoln holds a U.S. military record for continuous time at sea, raising concerns about supply shortages and mental health issues among sailors.

Aviles was apprehended on Saturday while taking his car to the mechanic. Argelia Aviles, his wife, stated that her husband holds a permit to work in the United States and has lived in the country for 19 years. This incident marks a series of high-profile arrests of family members of enlisted U.S. soldiers as part of President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement crackdown. A congressional investigation into the Department of Homeland Security's practices has been launched in response.

Joshua Aviles shared on Facebook that his father was released from federal immigration custody on Monday, just hours after he was booked into an immigration detention center in Miami. An immigration judge dismissed Aviles' case on the same day. The Department of Homeland Security has not yet provided a statement explaining why Luis Manuel Aviles was arrested and later released.

An immigration attorney specializing in military families, Margaret Stock, described the sequence of filed and dismissed charges as "super unusual." Joshua Aviles reported in a Facebook post on Saturday that he and his fellow sailors on the USS Lincoln had been working 12-hour days without breaks since the ship departed U.S. soil in November. The Navy confirmed that Aviles is an enlisted member serving aboard the USS Lincoln, where his duties involve moving aircraft on the ship.

The USS Lincoln is set to be relieved by another vessel, enabling it to return to the United States.