Leonel Armando Bolivar Linares was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Aug. 6, 2026, while on his way to work, according to his family and attorney. At the time of his detention, he had an approved work permit and a pending asylum case.

An immigration judge initially denied him a bond hearing in August. His attorney then filed a habeas corpus petition in federal court on Aug. 17 challenging his continued detention. On Nov. 1, a U.S. District Court granted the petition and ordered that Linares receive a bond hearing within seven days.

That hearing took place Nov. 5. The immigration judge denied bond, ruling that Linares posed a flight risk, according to the bond denial order. The order rejected four proposed sponsors, all U.S. citizens, individually by name.

One of the sponsors, Gregory Gonzalez, said the family had expected Linares to be released.

"We were set to pick him up at the airport on Saturday because we thought he was going to get out," Gonzalez said. "When we got the news that he wasn't coming home, we were devastated."

Linares is being held at the Cibola County Correctional Center in New Mexico, roughly 1,500 miles from St. Johns County, according to his attorney and family.

His parents said the bond decision was unfair and criticized the brevity of the hearing, which they said lasted about five minutes.

"It's not fair. It's not what they're doing with Leo," they said. "Leo has no criminal record and they are violating his human rights."

"It was a trial that lasted five minutes. You can't know if a person is good or bad in five minutes," his parents said. "We arrived in this country for humanitarian reasons. We didn't enter this country illegally."

Gonzalez said the judge's assessment of the sponsors offended him.

"We've been just trying to do the right thing. And for some guy to just go up there five minutes later and say your sponsor can hide you or whatever — I found that offensive, because you don't know anything about me or my character," he said.

Linares' asylum application was denied Oct. 5, and an appeal was filed with the Board of Immigration Appeals on Oct. 30, according to his attorney.

A habeas ruling that orders a bond hearing does not itself guarantee release. Lasnetski Gihon Law said that after an immigration judge denies bond, a person may return to the district court and argue that the hearing was a sham and request immediate release. The firm said district courts often deny such requests because immigration judges' discretionary bond decisions generally are not reviewable there. If there is a factual basis for the denial, the firm said, an appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals may be the only recourse; the board is part of the executive branch.

In August, the Department of Homeland Security said Linares entered the United States lawfully through Miami International Airport on Feb. 3, 2023. DHS said the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the termination of Venezuela's 2023 Temporary Protected Status designation, and said Linares "does not have legal authorization to remain in the United States." The agency said he would remain in ICE custody for immigration proceedings.

Until then, his sponsors and family say they will do everything they can within the legal proceedings to bring him home.

"Leo and his family have our support, and hopefully this can get this resolved, and they go back to living their lives here and get what everybody calls the American dream," Gonzalez said.

ICE and DHS did not respond to follow-up requests for comment on the court ruling, the bond denial, or Linares' current detention.