KEY WEST, Fla. — A South Florida family is reacting Monday after the father of a U.S. Navy sailor was arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in Key West.

Luis Manuel Aviles, 48, was arrested after leaving his house to take his car to the mechanic, according to his wife, Argelia Aviles.

She said her husband, who works as a handyman in Key West, has a permit to work in the United States. Originally from Nicaragua, he has lived in the U.S. for 19 years.

Federal authorities told Local 10 News that a work permit doesn’t grant legal immigration status, and that Aviles came to the country illegally in 2006 from Nicaragua.

Aviles’ son, Joshua, posted to Facebook that he got the news while aboard the USS Lincoln while on a nine-month deployment in the Middle East.

He wrote: “This is heartbreaking for me…He is a hardworking, humble man.”

Aviles’ younger son, also named Luis, told Local 10 News on Monday the family has been “stressed.”

“He’s a good father. He doesn’t deserve it,” Aviles Jr. said.

“Having a family member in the military is not a free pass to violate our nation’s laws,” a U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson wrote to Local 10, adding that the Trump administration “does not pick and choose which laws to enforce.”

There is a military program known as “parole in place” to obtain legal status. But not everyone is eligible, and it’s not granted automatically, according to DHS.

Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.