ICE Detains Two Argentinian Acrobats at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport

ICE Detains Two Argentinian Acrobats at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport

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ICE agents detained two Argentinian acrobatic performers at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport this past Saturday morning, KJZZ reported.

Agustin Baccega and Gustavo Romanello were arriving on a flight from Florida when they were approached by plainclothes officers, according to KJZZ. The incident has worried local community members in Phoenix, where the pair had previously been based before moving to perform for theme parks in Orlando.

Jonathan Batchelor, a Phoenix resident who formerly trained with the acrobats, said he was on the phone with Romanello shortly after the plane landed. He witnessed the beginning of the encounter through the call, describing how agents approached the men at the airport.

2 men detained by ICE agents at Phoenix Sky Harbor, friends tell 12News — 12 News

“They asked Augstin his name, and then said they were arresting him for being in the country illegally, or something to that effect,” Batchelor told KJZZ.

A photograph shared with KJZZ shows Baccega being handcuffed by an agent wearing a camo shirt and a baseball hat. Batchelor said he heard Romanello get taken into custody next while he was attempting to follow the agents to gather information regarding Baccega’s situation.

“They turned on him … asking for his name and information and then said, ‘oh, this is another one, do you have another pair of cuffs?’” Batchelor told KJZZ.

ICE Detains Two Argentinian Acrobats at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport

The two men are currently being held at the Florence Service Processing Center. While friends and associates have been able to reach them through short phone calls from the facility, no one has been able to visit them in person as of Tuesday, KJZZ reported.

The central conflict involves the distinction between having a work permit and holding legal immigration status. Batchelor said that both men possess valid work permits, have no criminal records, and have pending immigration cases. He said that seeking asylum is a legal right under U.S. law.

“It may be that one or another politician does not like that this is what our laws provide for … but that doesn’t mean that anybody’s done anything wrong,” Batchelor told KJZZ. “These are not men who were thinking they were skirting the law or anything of that nature. They were following the rules.”

Federal authorities provided a different explanation for the enforcement action. Fernando Burgos-Ortiz, a spokesperson for ICE in Arizona, said the arrests were part of a “targeted enforcement action.”

Friends fight for release of 2 men detained by ICE at Phoenix Sky Harbor — 12 News

According to an email from Burgos-Ortiz, both men legally entered the United States in 2020 but subsequently overstayed their visas. He clarified the agency’s position on employment documentation, stating that employment authorization, commonly referred to as a work permit, does not confer immigration status or prevent ICE from taking enforcement action, including arrest or removal proceedings.

ICE did not provide a specific reason for why the two men were targeted for arrest despite having active asylum claims pending.

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