Florida Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost slammed President Donald Trump and ICE for “kidnapping” a UF student. According to reports, the University of Florida student has been deported, returning to his home country of Colombia.
At the time of the detention, the Democratic Congressman attacked the Republican administration’s “cruelty” saying the University of Florida student “has become the latest victim in ICE’s kidnapping spree.”
27-year-old Felipe Zapata Velasquez is a third-year international student attending the University of Florida on an F-1 visa. On March 28th, he was stopped by Gainesville Police for a traffic violation in Alachua County and was arrested and later detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“Donald Trump and ICE are running a government-funded kidnapping program. Showing up in unmarked vans, with plain clothes officers, they are kidnapping people off the streets and jailing them inside of detention centers without due process and with little cause,” said Democratic Representative Maxwell Frost. “Felipe Zapata Velasquez is just the latest victim of Trump’s disgusting campaign against immigrants. What should have been a routine traffic stop, resulted in a nightmare as Felipe is now forced to live in the hell on Earth that is the Krome Detention Center while he awaits deportation orders.”
According to the Orlando Democrat, Zapata Velasquez’s family did not hear from him for a period of time after he was taken to the Krome Detention Center in Miami-Dade.
“Donald Trump ran on the promise of deporting violent criminals and gang members. Instead we’ve seen him kidnap and detain American citizens, legal visa holders like Felipe, and anyone who has spoken out against this Administration,” Rep. Maxwell Frost added. “Donald Trump wants us to believe that deporting every single immigrant in this country will solve our problems and make us safer. But there’s only one criminal responsible for the harm happening to the American people every day, and that’s Donald Trump.”
Based on available reports, it is still unclear if the UF student self-deported or if he was deported by immigration authorities, as self-deportation was reportedly an option he was offered. Either way, Democrats say they plan to do more on this issue in Congress.
“As a Member of the Oversight Committee, I vow to use every tool at my disposal to hold this Administration accountable,” Rep. Maxwell Frost said.
