The St. Johns County School District has responded after an employee was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last week. Leonel Armando Bolivar Linares, a custodian at Trout Creek Academy, was stopped Aug. 5 on his way to work. Earlier this week, the union representing Bolivar started a fundraising campaign and called for his release, saying Bolivar’s work visa was legitimate. “We understand that Leonel has no criminal record and was in the United States seeking asylum with a valid work permit, with additional paperwork pending,” the union president wrote. According to First Coast News, ICE says Bolivar legally entered the United States but was not currently authorized to remain in the country, following the revocation of temporary protected status. Authorities said Bolivar entered the United States lawfully through Miami International Airport in February 2023, but maintained he “does not have legal authorization to remain in the United States” following the termination of the 2023 Venezuela Temporary Protected Status designation. ICE said Bolivar will remain in custody for immigration proceedings. Leonel Bolivar was taken into custody last week. (St. Johns County) The district said ICE did not alert them of Bolivar’s detention, and it had not interacted with the agency leading up to the event. “This is a situation out of our purview, did not take place on a school campus, and we have no legal authority over ICE,” the district said. The District also says Bolivar’s status “had not expired,” and that he had provided documentation related to a pending asylum application. Immigration attorney Renata Castro told First Coast News that agencies reviewing applications such as Bolivar’s are backlogged, causing major delays for asylum seekers. “The backlog that the government has in asylum applications right now is so large that even if an application is received, it doesn’t mean it will be heard for another 6 to 10 years,” Castro said. Castro said although Bolivar’s application was pending, it couldn’t prevent his detention. “In the past, having a pending asylum application and the absence of a criminal record precluded you from being detained,” Castro said. “In the present, it really has no weight.”