Family Demands Release of Venezuelan Woman Held by ICE in South Florida

Relatives of Claudia Caglianone gathered outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Pompano this week to advocate for her immediate release. The Venezuelan national was apprehended earlier this month upon arrival at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, according to family members present at the demonstration.

Caglianone arrived in the United States in 2017 and filed for asylum protection shortly thereafter, eventually obtaining Temporary Protected Status in 2023 while her asylum petition awaited adjudication. Her cousin Gabriel Dominguez characterized her as someone who “spent the majority of her life trying to do the right thing,” challenging stereotypes surrounding immigration detainees.

“When people hear about detainees, the picture that comes to mind is somebody that they’ve been told to fear,” Dominguez said at the facility. He described his cousin as “living proof that the reality is much more complicated than any narrative that could be painted.”

Caglianone was initially held at the Miramar detention center before being moved to the Pompano facility. U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz visited on behalf of the family, expressing concern about the broader detention population at the location.

Wasserman Schultz stated she had no reservations regarding facility conditions but remained troubled by those in custody. “I am very concerned that there are 671 people in this facility that shouldn’t be here, that should not have been detained in the first place,” the congresswoman said.