Venezuelan Doctor Detained Before Asylum Interview, Husband Seeks Justice

Sun Apr 19 2026 02:57:45 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

Dr. Rubeliz Bolivar faces immigration challenges after being detained at an airport ahead of a long-awaited asylum interview with her husband, Milenko Faria.

In a troubling turn of events, Dr. Rubeliz Bolivar, a Venezuelan physician with a valid work authorization, was detained by Border Patrol agents while accompanying her daughter to a critical asylum interview in California. As her husband, Milenko Faria, pleads for justice, they navigate the complexities of immigration policy amidst rising tensions surrounding asylum cases.

A Venezuelan man pleaded his case to asylum officials on Thursday in an interview that his wife, a well-known doctor in South Texas, planned to attend until she was detained at the airport with the couple’s 5-year-old daughter.

Milenko Faria was interviewed at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services offices near Los Angeles, while his wife, Dr. Rubeliz Bolivar, entered her sixth day in immigration custody in Texas and was unable to attend the appointment they had been waiting for for more than 10 years.

Bolivar, who worked as a doctor in an area federally designated as medically underserved, was arrested by Border Patrol agents at McAllen International Airport on Saturday. She was with their American-born daughter, preparing to board a flight to join her husband and attend their asylum interview together.

Bolivar, 33, was the second Venezuelan physician arrested in the area within the span of a week. On April 6, Dr. Ezequiel Veliz was detained by Border Patrol agents at a checkpoint in South Texas. After spending about ten days in detention, his attorney, Victor Badell, said he was able to successfully request a bond hearing and secure his release on Thursday after paying a bond of $8,000.

Bolívar worked in the emergency room of a hospital in McAllen, city of about 150,000 in the Rio Grande Valley near the Mexican border, starting in June 2025, when she was accepted into her medical residency program.

“She was always focused on the community, and when she was accepted, it was an immense joy,” Faria, 36, said in a telephone interview. “We have never done anything outside the law. We have done everything by following the steps in accordance with the law to obtain permanent residency.”

The couple was beneficiaries of Temporary Protected Status for Venezuela that shielded more than 600,000 Venezuelans from deportation. Following a change in policy, Bolivar was arrested as she attempted to travel for her asylum interview.

Her husband, Faria, remains in California with their daughter, anxiously awaiting news from Bolivar’s attorney regarding her immigration status, as they navigate the obstacles presented by the current U.S. immigration landscape.