Yasmin Suarez Reyes, the Venezuelan-born Spanish citizen whose detention by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) drew attention after her American fiancé publicly regretted voting for President Donald Trump, remains in immigration custody in Texas.
According to CBS News, ICE’s online detainee locator earlier this week showed Suarez Reyes being held at the Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe, Texas.
Her detention prompted criticism from her fiancé, Texas businessman John Gannon, a lifelong Republican who said the arrest has upended their plans to marry.
“I voted for Trump,” Gannon told CBS News. “They are picking up law-abiding citizens. They’re destroying families, jobs.”
Arrest at Houston airport
Gannon said he and Suarez Reyes were travelling from Houston to Las Vegas on July 24 for a furniture industry convention when she was stopped after passing through security at George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
He alleged that plainclothes ICE agents approached the couple and detained Suarez Reyes without explaining the reason. “Eight officers… swarmed Yasmin and detained her,” he told CBS News.
Suarez Reyes’ attorney, Anne Kennedy, said her client entered the United States legally in October 2023 under the Visa Waiver Program using her Spanish passport. Before the authorized stay expired, she applied for asylum in January 2024. That application remains pending, Kennedy said.
According to the attorney, Suarez Reyes later obtained a work permit and a Texas driver’s license while awaiting a decision on her asylum case. Kennedy also said she could pursue permanent residency through marriage to Gannon if released.
However, ICE informed Kennedy that Suarez Reyes was detained because her original period of authorized stay had expired, even though her asylum case remains pending.
“For almost two weeks now, she has been in a physical jail cell, when she has done nothing more than follow the laws of the United States and do what our immigration laws allow her to do,” Kennedy said.
Part of wider airport enforcement
CBS News reported that Suarez Reyes is among a growing number of immigrants arrested at US airports as the Trump administration expands immigration enforcement. Many of those detained reportedly have pending immigration cases or valid work permits but remain vulnerable to arrest because their underlying immigration status has expired.
Last month, ICE arrests reached their highest monthly level under the Trump administration, with airport operations contributing to the increase, according to CBS News.
Gannon said he now wishes he could speak directly to President Trump.
“What are you doing?” he said he would ask the president. “Go after the criminals. We’re all for that. But leave the mom and pops and the kids alone. Man, he’s destroying families.”
As of the latest update, Suarez Reyes remains in ICE custody while her immigration case continues.