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The immigrant father of a sailor on board the troubled USS Abraham Lincoln was detained Saturday by immigration officials, family members confirmed.
Luis Manuel Aviles, originally from Nicaragua, was detained shortly after 11 a.m. ET in Key West, Florida, where he lives, stepdaughter Katty Delgado told NBC News on Saturday evening.
She said that Aviles has been in the US for roughly 20 years and that she has no knowledge of an arrest history or criminal allegations against him.
"He's doing everything the right way," she said.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed Sunday that the Border Patrol arrested Aviles during a traffic stop in Key West.
The agency said Aviles entered the US illegally at an unknown date and location and would remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.
"We are simply enforcing the laws passed by Congress. This Administration does not pick and choose which laws to enforce," a DHS spokesperson said.
Delgado said she learned the news from family members, including Aviles' wife and his son Joshua Aviles, who posted a note about the detention on Facebook.
Joshua Aviles said on Facebook that he is on board the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which is on its way back to the US after its prolonged stretch at sea, including its deployment to the Middle East to engage in the war with Iran.
"I've been deployed for over nine months, out at sea in the Middle East aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, fighting for a country that has given me everything," he wrote Saturday.
He said that his father is hard-working, giving and humble and that he has a work permit, a Social Security card and a driver's license.
"This is heartbreaking for me," Joshua Aviles said. "I don't know how I can mentally continue working 12+ hour days knowing that my dad is somewhere, possibly being treated like a criminal."
Immigration authorities have detained more than 50 parents and spouses of service members during Trump's second term, according to a recent Associated Press investigation.
The DHS spokesperson said in a statement Sunday that "having a family member in the military is not a free pass to violate our nation's laws".
"Military service by an immediate relative does not automatically grant parole, lawful status, or immunity from immigration enforcement," the spokesperson said.
Delgado highlighted that her stepbrother has spent nine months out at sea, without seeing his family, "and this is what his father gets".
