EFE — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained Venezuelan journalist Wilmer Solano in Miami Beach despite his pending asylum application, according to statements released Tuesday by his family and a Venezuelan journalists’ organization.
The arrest took place Sunday in the Haulover Beach area while Solano was working, the Association of Venezuelan Journalists Abroad (Apevex) reported. ICE has not answered questions about the reason for the detention.
“Solano has a pending asylum case, a valid work permit, and a valid Florida driver’s license. He entered the United States legally in 2015 and has no criminal record in either the United States or Venezuela,” Apevex said in a statement published on its website.
According to the organization, Solano has more than 20 years of journalism experience. He worked for Globovisión from 2002 to 2008. He owned and directed the news agency Zorro Comunicaciones C.A., where he covered the campaigns of Venezuelan opposition leaders, including Henrique Capriles and Julio Borges.
Apevex also stated that Solano “suffered attacks linked to his journalistic work” in Venezuela. In August 2011, officials from the Tinaquillo mayor’s office allegedly assaulted him and his cameraman.
The association added that Solano also directed the Venezuelan news outlet Responsabilidad Social Nota Responsable, which had a print edition in the newspaper Tal Cual before government restrictions on the press forced it to shut down.
His wife, María Moreno, launched a fundraising campaign on GoFundMe, where she stated that authorities “detained him without a warrant and without filing criminal charges.” She also said that “he has no criminal record, has lived in the United States for nearly 12 years, and has a pending asylum case.”
“Since then, we have followed every required step in this process and continue to wait for a decision. Wilmer has always worked hard to support our family, and we are doing everything possible to ensure he has the legal representation he needs,” Moreno wrote.
Solano’s case joins those of other journalists detained by ICE, including Colombian journalist Estefany Rodríguez, a reporter for Nashville Noticias and Univision 42 in Tennessee, whom authorities detained and later released on bond in March, and Salvadoran journalist Mario Guevara, whom authorities deported after he covered a protest against President Donald Trump in Georgia in 2025.
Solano’s detention also comes after President Trump introduced a new rule that removes asylum seekers’ right to an interview with an asylum officer. This change speeds up deportation proceedings for applicants with pending asylum claims.
