Overview
- The fiancé, John Gannon, says plainclothes ICE agents arrested Yasmin Suarez Reyes at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport on July 24 as the couple prepared to travel.
- Records and her attorney say Suarez Reyes entered legally under the Visa Waiver Program in October 2023 and filed for asylum in January 2024 while her authorized stay was still valid.
- While her asylum case remained pending and she held a work permit and a Texas driver’s license, ICE told her lawyer it detained her because her original period of admission expired and she is being processed for deportation.
- Gannon and attorney Anne Kennedy say Suarez Reyes is law‑abiding and that the arrest has upended the couple’s plans to marry and pursue permanent residency, and Gannon has publicly said he regrets voting for President Trump.
- Advocates and reporting place the arrest in a wider surge of airport enforcement that pushed ICE arrests to a monthly high, and it underscores the legal point that pending applications do not automatically create lawful status.