NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Venezuelan woman is desperately searching for her husband after he was detained during an immigration enforcement operation in Nashville over the weekend.
Yali Molero discovered her husband, Leugim Romero, was missing early Sunday morning around 5 a.m. She later learned through social media posts that he had been arrested during what some activists are calling an ICE racial-profiling operation. However, ICE and THP say they were targeting criminals.
"My husband is not a bad person," Molero said in Spanish.
According to Molero, authorities stopped her husband after he left his 12-hour shift at Walmart around 1 a.m. She says he was carrying a valid temporary license with him at the time.
"It's a moment of anguish, despair, not knowing if he's okay," Molero said.
The couple fled political persecution in Venezuela and arrived in the United States nine months ago through the CBP ONE App, a Biden-era program that allows migrants to schedule appointments and apply for work authorization in the U.S.
After the Trump administration announced it was ending the program, they hired a lawyer to help with their asylum case.
Molero showed NewsChannel5 documentation of her husband's work permit and asylum paperwork, which indicates his court date to plead their case is scheduled for March 2027.
"We're doing everything right to have a better life and help our families in Venezuela," Molero explained.
Her biggest fear is that her husband will be deported to El Salvador rather than Venezuela. She is asking authorities to send him back to his country of origin if deportation occurs.
"He is not a criminal, and it hurts me that all immigrants are labeled that way," Molero said.
Molero plans to sell their car to pay for an attorney as she explores every possible avenue to help her husband.
She says God is watching what is happening and knows who they truly are.
As of now, Molero has still not been able to make contact with her husband or determine where he is being detained.
All of Molero quotes have been translated from Spanish to English by Patsy Montesinos, a bilingual reporter.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Patsy.Montesinos@Newschannel5.com.
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