The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 14 other press freedom and civil society organizations in condemning the detention of Miami-based journalist Luis Galeano by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and called for his immediate release.
Galeano, director of the Spanish-language outlet Café con Voz,
was detained
September 14 while working as a rideshare driver. He
fled Nicaragua in 2018
after the Ortega-Murillo government stripped nearly 100 journalists of their citizenship in retaliation for covering its crackdown on dissent. He has since reported on Nicaraguan and Florida communities from exile, holds a Social Security number and work permit, and has an asylum case that has been pending for nearly seven years.
The groups warned that Galeano
faces serious danger if deported
, noting the Department of Homeland Security
ended Temporary Protected Status
for Nicaraguan immigrants in July 2025. As a prominent press freedom advocate, Galeano would face heightened risk upon returning to Nicaragua.
The organizations said Galeano’s case reflects a broader pattern of immigration enforcement being used to target journalists, particularly those reporting for immigrant and underserved communities.
Read the full statement in English
here
.
