Connor Read has spent more than six weeks locked in an ICE detention facility, separated from his wife and three-year-old twin sons, after immigration agents arrested him during what was supposed to be a routine green card interview in Tampa, Florida.
Read, 29, was born in Chatham, Kent, and arrived in the United States in November 2007 at age nine with his mother and stepfather. He grew up attending American schools, built a life here, and fathered two children with his wife Jaelin. Yet on June 3, when he walked into the federal immigration building for an appointment about obtaining permanent residency, four ICE agents were waiting. He never walked out.
The arrest stems from a removal order issued against Read in 2011 when he was 16 years old. At that time, he was granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) status, a federal policy designed to shield people brought to the country as children from deportation and to grant them work authorization. For several years, Daca protected Read from removal.
That protection ended when Read was 22. His criminal history, which includes convictions for possession of narcotic equipment, possession of liquor, and resisting an officer, made him ineligible to renew his Daca status. Without it, his immigration situation deteriorated.
Read met Jaelin on a dating app in 2020 while his status remained unsettled. They married, and the couple pursued a green card application. The green card interview on June 3 appeared to be a step forward. Instead, it became the moment everything collapsed.
After his arrest in Tampa, Read was taken to Pinellas County Jail in Florida, where he spent eight days in a shared cell. He was then flown to an ICE detention center in Louisiana, where he remains. He is appealing his final removal order, but officials warned him that a decision could take up to six months.
An ICE spokesperson characterized Read as a criminal offender, noting that nearly 70% of ICE arrests involve people charged or convicted of crimes in the United States. The agency attributed Read's detention to policies under the Trump administration and Homeland Security Secretary Mullin, which it said target individuals with criminal histories.
Read's case sits at the intersection of childhood immigration and criminal justice. He grew up American in every practical sense but carries a record that disqualified him from the protections that once sheltered him. His arrest during a green card interview raises questions about the process itself. Read came voluntarily to appear at the appointment, making his detention a stark reversal that left his family without warning or goodbye.
Author James Rodriguez: "Read's story exposes the cruel machinery underneath immigration law: a man shaped entirely by American life, detained at the doorstep of legal status because of youthful mistakes, while his young family waits for a decision that may never come."
Comments