NPR reported ICE detained Venezuelan soccer pro Homero Calderon for nearly six months despite two pending visa applications

NPR reported on August 15, 2026 that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has held Venezuelan professional soccer player Homero Calderon in detention for nearly six months, despite two pending immigration applications. Calderon, who played professionally in Venezuela, Portugal, Cyprus and Italy, was pulled over for speeding in Marion County, Florida in late February 2026 by the county sheriff's office and arrested for driving without a valid Florida license; he was subsequently transferred to ICE custody and has since been held at an ICE detention center in Folkston, Georgia. No public source narrows the arrest date further than "late February."

At the time of his arrest, Calderon had two immigration applications pending: an extension of his tourist visa, filed August 25, 2025, and an EB-1A visa for people of extraordinary ability in fields including athletics. In a statement to NPR, the Department of Homeland Security said Calderon had "permission to stay until September 5, 2025" but that "he overstayed his welcome in violation of our nation's laws," and confirmed he will remain in ICE custody "pending the outcome of his immigration proceedings." The statement did not address his pending applications. NPR found no evidence of any criminal case against Calderon in the U.S. or elsewhere, and his family says he has never been arrested for anything beyond the traffic stop.

Immigration attorneys and advocates told NPR that Calderon's case is representative of a broader pattern: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' backlog of pending cases stood at 11.3 million as of the report, having grown by more than 1.6 million since 2025 even as the agency processed about 41% fewer cases, according to the American Immigration Council. Shev Dalal-Dheini of the American Immigration Lawyers Association said the slowdown lets the government "meet their quota to detain and deport individuals" who filed applications in good faith, while Adriel Orozco of the American Immigration Council said people with pending applications or court cases were previously not detention priorities but are now routinely detained regardless of case status.

Calderon is the father of two U.S.-citizen children, ages one and three; his wife said he missed his daughter's first birthday while detained. His brother, a U.S. citizen, said the family has "done everything under the legality of what the immigration laws are."