Last week, we had a couple of feel-good stories of students or former students self-deporting after inhumane treatment by ICE. Now, the Texas Tribune has the story of a Venezuelan family that is leaving the U.S. after being detained for a month, even though they followed the rules to enter the United States. It seems odd that ICE would arrest and detain them if they followed the rules. Maybe there's more to the story.
A Venezuelan family followed the rules to enter the U.S. After being arrested and detained for a month, they’re leaving. https://t.co/sxng7m6BC2
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) April 19, 2026
Uriel J. García reports:
In the summer of 2025, José, his wife Carolina and their teenage daughter arrived for their first scheduled hearing at an immigration court in downtown El Paso. The family believed they were going to argue their case for political asylum proceedings after fleeing Venezuela.
Just over a year earlier, the family had followed the rules the Biden administration had established to enter the U.S.: They made an appointment through the CBP One cellphone application, met with a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent to request asylum, and received “parole” — permission to live and work in the country while their case was pending.
…
In April 2025, the Trump administration terminated the legal status of the more than 900,000 people who entered the country using the CBP One app — most had received permission to live and work in the U.S. for up to two years while their cases were pending. And it sent notifications to immigrants who had entered using the app that they needed to return to their home countries or they would be arrested.
The family said their 14-year-old daughter quickly fell into depression and was vomiting for days after being detained in Texas.
They didn’t “follow the rules to enter the U.S.”. They entered illegally and stayed illegally under the Biden administration’s abuse of the very specialized asylum category used excuse all illegal entries between 2021-25 pic.twitter.com/IUtN7OmIPN
— Patrick (@ArgentineTea) April 19, 2026
Recommended
The did not follow the legal pathway to immigrate to the US.
— Arthur Frelling Dent (@ArthurFrDent) April 20, 2026
They followed no rules.
They "followed the rules under the Biden administration". There weren't any rules being enforced during Biden, so no, they didn't.
— Cheryl Kay (@TXkittenchop) April 19, 2026
You can push these pathetic sob stories all you want, we aren’t falling for the manipulation. They have to leave.
— Littlelarrysellers (@Littlelarr33343) April 20, 2026
Good
— Better Scotusblog (@BetterScotus) April 20, 2026
Every single person let in by the Biden Admin on anything other than an individualized visa approved according to the law should be deported
No exceptions
Another sob story filled with falsehoods. The 'rules' mentioned were Biden's illegal open border. If you're an economic migrant, you have no right to asylum. If denied, you are immediately detained, then removed.
— Matt Cavanaugh (@matt_cavanaugh_) April 20, 2026
Following the rules means you leave when your bogus asylum claim is rejected
— JohnMatrix2023 (@JMatrix20266053) April 19, 2026
Good. They applied for asylum, were denied, and told to leave. They refused and were arrested.
— James Drew (@JamesDr97208637) April 19, 2026
This family entered using the Biden WH Staff Administration's extralegal CBPOne app. Their entry wasn't 'legal', it was allowed - by an administration that was willfully not enforcing federal law.
— Old SF Dude 🇺🇸🇨🇷 (@WasAnActionGuy) April 20, 2026
Perfect. Summary: Two people figured they'd take a run at skipping our immigration system altogether by requesting "asylum". They now see that the Trump administration enforces the law, so they went home. The End.
— John Malverne (@JohnMalverne) April 20, 2026
Following the Biden administration's so-called rules isn't exactly the same thing as following federal immigration laws.
— Lea (@TLightfieldT) April 19, 2026
Had they of actually followed federal immigration laws, they never would of been here in the first place, nor would they of been detained.
You are assuming that what Biden did was legal
— Speaking My Mind (@Speak_my_mind) April 20, 2026
May their story inspire others to self-deport.
— Jack Mehra (@JackMehra2) April 19, 2026
They didn't follow federal immigration rules; they flew in on one of Joe Biden's "parole flights" after making arrangements with his bogus CBP One app. We're not making up rules now — we're enforcing immigration law.
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