A veteran journalist facing deportation after years of asylum proceedings in the U.S. was detained by immigration authorities while working as a Lyft driver. The reporter, who has maintained critical coverage of Nicaragua’s government through his online platform since fleeing the country in 2018, had an asylum case pending for nearly seven years despite holding legal work authorization. His detention comes amid a broader crackdown by Nicaragua’s regime, which has revoked citizenship from at least 94 dissidents, including journalists, in recent years. The case raises questions about protections for exiled reporters and the fate of those awaiting asylum in the U.S.
Galeano, who has had asylum application pending for about seven years, was pulled over by agents while driving for LyftVeteran journalist Luis Galeano, one of at least 94 Nicaraguans whom the Ortega Murillo regime has stripped of citizenship in recent years for opposing the government, has been detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).Galeano, who has continued critically reporting on the Sandinista government online through his platform, Café con voz, since shortly after arriving in the US in 2018, has had an asylum application pending for about seven years, according to his wife, Daykel Santamaría. He also has a work permit and a social security number, she said. Continue reading...
