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By Billal Rahman
Immigration Reporter
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A Colombian man seeking asylum was arrested by federal agents while attending a routine immigration appointment in Tennessee, his girlfriend told Newsweek.
Morgan Bowser, 28, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained her partner, John Ever Pineda Calderón, 35, a hotel renovation worker seeking asylum, inside the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP) Office in Memphis.
Bowser said she was waiting in the parking lot as the arrest unfolded on August 7 around 10 a.m.
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An ISAP appointment is a scheduled check-in that immigrants are required to attend while their immigration cases are being processed.
Bowser, who described waiting for hours without knowing what had happened to Calderón, said she was left heartbroken after receiving a call from him confirming he had been detained and transferred.
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Calderón, who has been in the United States since February 2023, had recently applied for asylum and withholding of removal, Bowser said. His application had been filed four days before his detention, she added.
"He felt nervous, but not that he felt anything would happen to him. It was just a feeling he had. We even contemplated getting out of the car to hug, but we did just in case it would be our last for a while," she said.
Bowser said she returned to her car with her laptop to work while waiting, keeping track of people coming and going. After several hours and checking with Calderón's lawyer, she discovered he had been taken to another facility about five minutes away. Calderón called her briefly to explain he had been transported and reassured her before ending the call.
The Trump administration has ramped up immigration arrests of those who entered the country during former President Joe Biden's administration. The White House has ordered several agencies to work together to carry out President Donald Trump's pledge of widespread mass deportations. The administration has maintained that anyone living in the country illegally is a criminal.
In a statement to Newsweek, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) defended Calderón's detention.
"John Ever Pineda Calderon, an illegal alien from Colombia, illegally crossed the southern border on February 10, 2023. Under the Biden Administration, Border Patrol arrested and RELEASED him into our country," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Newsweek.
McLaughlin encouraged migrants to self-deport, noting a federal program that offers $1,000 and a free flight for those who voluntarily leave the United States.
Calderón is in federal custody at the ICE Processing Center in Jena, Louisiana, according to the ICE detainee locator.
His family in Colombia is anxious and uncertain about his detention, said Bowser, who added that they do not fully understand the complexities of the U.S. immigration system or why he was taken into custody.
"I am feeling an array of emotions ranging from fear, distraught, grief, hope and support," Bowser said.
"I have to keep a smiling face and maintain composure when I'm speaking to John on the phone or visiting him because I know how easily those who are detained can lose hope," she said.
"No one should have to live in fear. No one should have to fight an immigration case from detention. It is inhumane," she added.
Bowser said Calderón had a scheduled hearing on August 20 in Jena.
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