A Venezuelan physician serving an underserved community in South Texas found herself in immigration detention this week, unable to join her husband for a crucial asylum hearing they had awaited for more than a decade.
Dr. Rubeliz Bolivar, 33, was taken into custody by Border Patrol agents at McAllen International Airport on Saturday as she prepared to fly to California with the couple’s 5-year-old American-born daughter. Her husband, Milenko Faria, proceeded alone with his asylum interview at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services offices near Los Angeles on Thursday, marking Bolivar’s sixth day in federal custody.
The emergency room physician had been working at a McAllen hospital since June 2025 as part of her medical residency program in the Rio Grande Valley, an area officially classified as medically underserved.
Bolivar’s detention represents the second arrest of a Venezuelan doctor in the region within a week. Dr. Ezequiel Veliz was apprehended at a Border Patrol checkpoint in South Texas on April 6, though his attorney Victor Badell successfully secured his release Thursday after posting an $8,000 bond following approximately ten days in custody.
These arrests reflect the current administration’s strict immigration enforcement policies. After an enforcement operation in Minnesota in January that resulted in two U.S. citizen deaths, the Department of Homeland Security has shifted toward less conspicuous detention actions.
“She was always focused on the community, and when she was accepted, it was an immense joy,” Faria, 36, told The Associated Press during a phone 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.”
According to Faria, his wife entered the United States on a tourist visa in 2016 following her graduation from medical school in Venezuela. Before her authorized stay period ended, she was included in her husband’s asylum petition. The couple is also pursuing permanent residency through a skilled worker application sponsored by Faria’s California employer, where he has worked as an information systems technician since 2019.
Both individuals had been protected under Temporary Protected Status for Venezuela, which safeguarded over 600,000 Venezuelans from deportation. The Trump administration eliminated these protections for Venezuela, Haiti, Syria, Afghanistan, Nicaragua and other nations, though this decision faces ongoing federal court challenges.
Department of Homeland Security officials justified Bolivar’s arrest by citing her illegal presence in the country.
“She has overstayed her visa since 2017, nearly a decade, and had no legal status,” stated DHS spokesperson Lauren Bis.
Immigration attorney Jodi Goodwin, practicing in South Texas, identified a policy shift around September or October 2025 regarding travel by individuals with pending USCIS applications.
“It just became a very apparent trend where anyone that had some kind of application pending with USCIS, whether it was an adjustment of status or asylum, anything like that, they were going to be arrested,” Goodwin explained.
The couple had lived together in Santa Maria, California, until Bolivar relocated to Texas for her medical residency in summer 2025. Faria made bimonthly visits to see his wife and daughter, with Saturday marking Bolivar’s first attempt to travel since beginning her Texas residency.
Border Protection officers detained Bolivar before she could complete airport security screening, requesting identification documents. She presented her Real ID-compliant driver’s license and valid work authorization extending through 2030.
Despite explaining her pending green card adjustment and the purpose of her California trip for the asylum interview, officers detained her after questioning her nationality and demanding proof of permanent legal residency, according to Faria, who received text updates from his wife during the arrest.
Their 5-year-old daughter, an American citizen, was also taken into custody before being released to her grandfather 19 hours later. The child is now in California with her father.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement assumed custody of Bolivar on Sunday, and she remains held at El Valle Detention Facility in Texas.
Faria reported that his wife has repeatedly requested explanations for her detention but has received no responses from authorities.
The other detained Venezuelan physician, Ezequiel Veliz, arrived in the United States in 2018 on a tourist visa with plans to practice medicine. Friend Hector Ruiz characterized him as a compassionate doctor who cares for his cats and demonstrates dedication to his profession.
Veliz transitioned his immigration status from student to physician at a Rio Grande Valley hospital while working under TPS protection. The suspension of protected status immediately impacted his two-year residency program.
“He was one year and four months into that. He couldn’t continue working legally. He had to stop,” said his attorney Badell.
Veliz was awaiting a hospital-sponsored visa when Border Patrol detained him at a checkpoint while traveling to Houston with his husband on April 6.
