After having been detained by ICE
Nicaraguan journalist Luis Galeano will have to appear before an immigration court. Photo: Café con Voz
“I am alive, healthy and free again, and ready to continue the fight against the tyrants,” said Galeano, who has an immigration hearing on Oct. 2.
By Confidencial
HAVANA TIMES – Nicaraguan journalist Luis Galeano regained his freedom in the early hours of Saturday, September 26, 2026, after posting $10,000 bail, following 12 days in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after being arrested in Orlando, Florida.
“I am alive, healthy and free again, and ready to continue the fight against the tyrants (Daniel) Ortega and (Rosario) Murillo,” Galeano said in a brief message posted on the social media accounts of Cafe con Voz, the program he directs.
“They are responsible for everything that happens to those of us who have been persecuted and forced to leave the country, and we must continue denouncing them,” he added.
On September 23, an immigration judge granted the director of the opinion and debate program Café con Voz release on bail while he continues pursuing his affirmative asylum application in the United States.
Galeano, 48, was detained on September 14 while working as a driver for the Uber platform. Following his arrest, he was initially transferred to Baker Correctional Institution in Florida and later held at the Krome Miami North immigration detention center in Miami-Dade County.
His release from immigration detention, however, does not mean that his case before US authorities is over. The journalist has a hearing before an immigration judge scheduled for October 2.
His Departure from Nicaragua
Galeano left Nicaragua in December 2018 following the persecution of journalists and independent media outlets. State repression intensified after the protests that began in April of that year, and he has lived in the United States ever since, where he continued directing Cafe con Voz.
In 2019, he applied for asylum in the United States, a case that was still pending at the time of his detention. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Galeano has a work permit and a Social Security number.
Following his arrest, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed that Galeano is facing deportation proceedings. His detention occurred amid tighter immigration enforcement in the United States since Donald Trump took office and raised concerns among press freedom organizations about the risks he would face if eventually returned to Nicaragua.
The Inter American Press Association, together with 14 other press freedom organizations, called for the Nicaraguan journalist’s release. In a statement, they urged the US government to prevent the deportation of Galeano, who has also been a naturalized Spanish citizen since July 2025, citing the “serious risks he would face if deported.”
In February 2023, the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo included Galeano among the Nicaraguans declared “traitors to the homeland.” The measure stripped him of his Nicaraguan nationality and ordered the confiscation of his property. Spain subsequently granted him Spanish citizenship.
Following an increase in arrests of Nicaraguans by ICE, the Nicaraguan American Human Rights Alliance (NAHRA) warned that the risk is not limited to people who entered the country irregularly.
According to NAHRA, there have also been reports of people being detained despite having entered the United States legally through humanitarian parole or having pending asylum applications and having complied with their immigration appointments and obligations.
First published in Spanish by Confidencial and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.
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